India, Sept. 19 -- Actor Disha Patani was recently brought onboard for Awarapan 2, a development that comes months after actor Emraan Hashmi announced the sequel to his 2007 film. However, HT City has discovered that former Miss World-turned-actor Manushi Chhillar was the frontrunner to play the film's heroine. A source close to the production tells us, "Manushi was approached by the makers to play the female lead in the sequel, but she didn't take up the project due to her jam-packed schedule." We have also learnt that the 28-year-old, who was recently seen alongside John Abraham in Tehran, has signed onto a project with filmmaker Dinesh Vijan's banner after recently having done a look test. The actor is expected to begin shooting her parts beginning next month - the makers are yet to lock in the rest of the ensemble. The Awarapan sequel - now helmed by director Nitin Kakkar (Filmistan, 2004; Jawani Jaaneman, 2020) - is expected to go on floors later this month and is reportedly slated for a summer 2026 release. We reached out to Manushi, but received no comment till the time of going to press....