Says a source, "After Arbaaz decided to bring Prakash Raj in as the arch-villain, he made sure Sonu Sood's role did not suffer in any way. Nonetheless when Arbaaz had a long narration for Sonu Sood, the actor was instantly on his guard objecting to the presence of the other antagonist's character.

Arbaaz who considers Sonu Sood a close friend tried to convince the actor but Sonu was adamant. They parted on a question mark about Sonu's role. But now Arbaaz has decided to scrap Sonu's role, thereby writing Sonu Sood out of the Dabangg franchise permanently."

When contacted, Arbaaz Khan is as candid as ever, "Yes Sonu's character has been written out of Dabangg 2. There was no point in retaining the part when Sonu wasn't doing it. If you remember his character had died at the end of Dabangg. We wrote in a twin for the dead villain only to keep Sonu alive in the franchise. But how could he continue to be the main villain? Then Dabangg 2 would have been an exact replica of Dabangg. Since changing the protagonist is inconceivable, we have to keep shuffling the antagonist. I thought Sonu would understand that, and just be happy to be part of the franchise. But."

Arbaaz makes it clear that only Salman Khan is the core cast of the Dabangg series. "Dabangg can't be made without Chulbul Pandey. All the other characters are expendable. And why just Sonu? We are expendable in the scheme of life. If, God forbid, tomorrow there's a bereavement in my family, we will have to move on. So you can imagine how easy it is to leave a character or an actor out of a franchise like Dabangg."

Outwardly there is no show of resentment or anger. But Arbaaz does say he is surprised by Sonu's stance. "Considering we wrote the role because we wanted him to be part of Dabangg 2, it is sad he couldn't see the larger picture. Sequels and franchises are not about individuals, but the collective enhancement and advancement of the franchise. Big-name actors are known to do cameos and walk-on parts in sequels just because they were in the first part."

Surprisingly, Prakash Raj had no objection to Sonu Sood's presence in the Dabangg 2 script.

Says Arbaaz, "If anything it should have been Prakash who should have been wary. After all, he is the new recruit in the franchise. But he was cool with Sonu's part. I guess whatever happens is for the best. We'll move on now. Sonu's role no longer exists in the script. But please understand we didn't have a fight or showdown. So please don't make it sound that way."