Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) Acclaimed actor Adil Hussain has come on board ‘Lakadbaggha 2: The Monkey Business’, replacing Milind Soman in the role of the sensei in the sequel.
Speaking about the casting, Adil said, “Watching Lakadbaggha-1 was so inspiring. It felt like someone was finally making a film that stood up for the rights of animals—something we haven’t seen in decades, perhaps since Haathi Mere Saathi in the seventies.”
He added: “I also had the good fortune of working with Anshuman Jha, both under his direction and as a co-actor. The martial arts training and action sequences were challenging, but Anshuman has been incredibly supportive and generous throughout the process. I’m truly grateful to be part of the Lakadbaggha franchise.”
Billed as the world’s first animal lover vigilante universe, Lakadbaggha wrapped the shoot of its sequel in June 2025, following an ambitious scale-up after lead actor Anshuman Jha also took charge behind the scenes.
The film positions itself as a martial arts action spectacle with a formidable international ensemble, featuring martial arts legends Sunny Pang (Headshot, Havoc) and Dan CChupong (OngBak). The Indian cast includes Sarah Jane Dias, Vikram Kochar, and Anshuman Jha, who reprises his role as Arjun Bakshi, the ordinary man turned animal-loving vigilante.
Lakadbaggha 2: The Monkey Business is slated for a mid-2026 release, marking the next chapter in a franchise that blends action, conscience, and animal welfare into a distinctive cinematic identity.
Adil first received acclaim in Othello: A Play in Black and White, which was awarded the Edinburgh Fringe First, and later Goodbye Desdemona, also directed by Roysten Abel. He made his Bengali film debut along with Soha Ali Khan in the period drama Iti Srikanta, where he played the lead role.
On television, he appeared in the lead role in the detective series Jasoos Vijay, produced by BBC World Service Trust.
It was his role in Abhishek Chaubey’s Ishqiya that brought him attention in Bollywood, though his first major role was in the Saif Ali Khan–Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer Agent Vinod. In the same period, he appeared in Italian director Italo Spinelli’s Gangor, Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.
He next appeared alongside Sridevi in the comedy-drama English Vinglish. His next role as Inspector K. N. Singh was in the Ranveer Singh–Sonakshi Sinha starrer Lootera under Vikramaditya Motwane’s direction.
The actor began the year with the Assamese film Raag: The Rhythm of Love, in which he played Iqbal, marking his first lead role in an Assamese film. Sringkhal and Rodor Sithi were his other Assamese releases during the same period. He was also seen in Hindi films such as Kaanchi: The Unbreakable as a CBI officer, The Xposé as Rajan, starring Himesh Reshammiya in the lead, and Tigers as Bilal, starring Emraan Hashmi.
His projects included the drama film Parched, directed by Leena Yadav, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. His subsequent releases included Commando 2: The Black Money Trail, Love Sonia, Mantra, Mukti Bhawan, Dobaara: See Your Evil, Kabuliwala, and Naval Enna Jewel.
He later appeared in S. Shankar’s 2.0, as well as Aiyaary and Bioscopewala.
–IANS
dc/
