Akshay Kumar might refrain from working with Priyanka Chopra due to the rumors of an affair between them but he doesn’t seem to have problems working with Priyanka Chopra’s cousin Parineeti Chopra.

According to sources Parineeti Chopra has been cast opposite Akshay Kumar in AR Murugadoss' Hindi remake of the Tamil action thriller ‘Thuppakki’ being produced by Vipul Shah. The Tamil version starred Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal.

“Of late, Akshay has been working with newer actresses like Sonakshi Sinha in ‘Rowdy Rathore’ and Anushka Sharma in ‘Patiala House’. So this time he will team up with another youngster Parineeti,” said a source to a daily.

Even actress Katrina Kaif, who is considered as his lucky by Akshay Kumar, and Deepika Padukone were considered for the role but Parineeti was finally finalized.

“Parineeti has been confirmed for the role. Priyanka has no clue about it!” confirmed a source close to the director.

Apparently actress Diana Penty, who made her debut with ‘Cocktail’, was front runner for the role for a long time but when Akshay Kumar realized that Diana was from the same agency with which Akshay had a problem with, he refused to work with her.

The problems between Akshay Kumar and the above mentioned agency started when Akshay Kumar signed Nargis Fakhri for the movie ‘Khiladi 786’. The actor also went ahead and presented Nargis Fakhri with a three movie deal. But Akshay Kumar and the agency had fallout about the contract. Nargis Fakhri was eventually replaced by Asin in ‘Khiladi 786’.

AR Murugadoss made his debut as a director with ‘Ghajini’ starring Aamir Khan in 2008. This will be the popular South director’s second Bollywood venture.