India, Dec. 22 -- Prabhu Deva's Wanted began the second innings of Salman Khan's career that saw him dominate the box office all through the 2010s. The 2009 film helped the superstar recover from a string of unsuccessful films and transformed him into a mass action star. The film, now a cult classic, is best remembered for its action and also its unusual and fresh pairing with Ayesha Takia. But producer Boney Kapoor has now revealed that Ayesha was almost not even in the film.

Wanted is a remake of the Telugu hit Pokiri, which starred Mahesh Babu in the lead. After watching it, Boney wanted to pick up the remake rights for Hindi with Salman in the lead. The filmmaker told Rediff, "I happened to see Puri Jagannadh's 2006 Telugu blockbuste...