Fardeen Khan says his 2005 film "No Entry" is close to his heart and he hopes the upcoming sequel, which features a new cast, is as good as the original.

Producer Boney Kapoor recently announced that the sequel is actively being developed and will feature Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Arjun Kapoor in lead roles.

Anees Bazmee, who directed the first part starring Fardeen, Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor, is returning for the follow-up as well.

“I've heard the script, it is absolutely hilarious. I think everyone tried hard to work out whether it was from Salman Khan or Boney Kapoor or Anees Bazmee... It's a film that's close to my heart," Fardeen told PTI.

"Wish we could have been a part of it but it wasn’t meant to be. So, these things happen. For Anees and Boney, I only have love and my best wishes on the sequel, all I would say is: ‘Don't mess it up’,” he added.

The 50-year-old actor said he is looking forward to the sequel.

“I don't know whether they're doing something different with the sequel but I'm pretty sure it will be close to what Anees had already written. I think it will be incredible. I wish them luck, love, I'm dying to see it when it comes out,” he added.

“No Entry” revolved around two married men (Fardeen and Anil), who find themselves in trouble because of their womanising friend, Prem (Salman).

Lara Dutta, Esha Deol and Celina Jaitley played the female leads in the first part, with Bipasha Basu in an extended cameo.

“No Entry 2” is expected to go on floors in December this year.

Fardeen stars in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Heeramandi" and also has two films lined up for 2024 -- Akshay Kumar-led “Khel Khel Mein” and filmmaker Sanjay Gupta’s home production, “Visfot”, alongside Ritiesh Deshmukh.

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