Dharma Productions has announced that they will be recasting for their upcoming film Dostana 2 due to “professional circumstances”. Dostana 2 is the standalone sequel to the highly popular 2008 film Dostana starring John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan. Karan Johar had announced the sequel in June 2019, revealing that Janhvi Kapoor and Kartik Aaryan were cast in the lead roles.
In an official statement, the Johar-led production house said: “Due to professional circumstances, on which we have decided to maintain a dignified silence – we will be recasting Dostana 2, directed by Collin D’Cunha. Please wait for the official announcement soon.”
Rumours of Kartik Aaryan leaving Dostana 2 have been doing the rounds on social media for several days. While there was no confirmation from anyone, sources close to the development revealed that after having shot for 20 days, Aaryan didn’t give further dates to the film due to a clash in schedule.
“After numerous queries from Kartik’s talent agency KWAN, Dharma failed to get the schedule dates. There’s Janhvi and Lakshya trying to accommodate dates amid their juggling schedules,” stated a report, adding that Johar has decided to never work with Kartik in the future.
“The team was a mess after a point. Dharma Productions have now decided to officially not associate with Kartik ever in future,” added the report.
Other reports have suggested that Kartik had creative differences with the director of the film which caused tension between the two prompting Dharma to replace the actor.
Aaryan’s ouster from the project will reportedly cost Dharma a whopping Rs 20 crores.
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On the other hand, rumours are abuzz that there has been a fallout between Kartik and Johar.
According to Pinkvilla, Kartik expressed his displeasure with the second half of the script after shooting for 20 days, irking Karan.
Another report said that Johar became fed up with Kartik for not giving dates and giving other projects like Ram Madhvani’s Dhamaka more importance.
“For the longest time, Kartik gave a genuine reason of the COVID-19 pandemic to not start the shoot. He wanted to ensure safety so Karan didn’t push him much. But when he shot for Dhamaka, Karan was upset. They had an indoor meeting where Karan expressed his disappointment,” a source told the media outlet.
He added: “Kartik later got upset with the banner when they gave Shashank Khaitan’s Yoddha to Shahid Kapoor. Although Shahid soon quit, they never approached Kartik for the role. Furthermore, since Kartik’s dates were not available for Dostana 2, Karan decided to go ahead and start Mr Lele with Vicky Kaushal and Janhvi Kapoor from April. The moment Kartik got to know about this development he informed the production house that the only dates available for Dostana 2 this year will be April onwards.”
“Karan understood what Kartik was doing and quickly reprimanded him for the same. He was genuinely upset with Kartik as Janhvi had to pick between Dostana 2 and Mr Lele,” said the source, adding: “The last we heard, Karan and Kartik are not speaking a word to each other.”
To add more fuel to the fire, it has emerged that Johar has unfollowed Kartik on Instagram shortly after the announcement. However, Kartik continues to follow Johar on the picture-sharing app.
Meanwhile, Rajkummar Rao and Vicky Kaushal are reportedly being considered for the role Kartik was supposed to play.
Earlier, Kartik had expressed his excitement over the film saying: “The evolution is from one Dostana to the other. Dostana one that released in 2008 and the Dostana 2 that’s releasing in 2020, you will see that the representation is accurate, non-caricaturish and on point, talking about sexuality in a way that will not make you cringe while watching it.”
Aaryan made his Bollywood debut with Luv Ranjan’s Pyaar Ka Punchnama in 2011.
