Friday, 6th June 2014, 06:30 PM IST

Ananth Mahadevan will no longer be a part of the team for ‘The Xpose 2’ as the fight between him and Himesh Reshammiya has led to the former waking out on the film.

 “Director Ananth Mahadevan has hiked up his rates for the sequel of ‘The Xpose’, whereas the makers want him to direct it at the same price. But given the fact that their film has crossed Rs 22.75 crore in 20 days, Ananth refused to budge. He insisted on directing at a higher price and they haven’t been able to sort out the matter,” says a source.

Rakesh Upadhyay, creative producer of the film, says, “We want the sequel to be bigger in terms of its look, music and supporting star cast. But we don’t want to go haywire with our budget and that’s something that Ananth needs to understand.”

The source adds, “Recently, a closed-door meeting took place between Rakesh, Ananth and Himesh, but Ananth didn’t agree to work at the same price. He has now decided to quit the project and move on.Accordingly, the makers are now looking for a new director.”