Kartik's 'Dostana 2' exit stemmed from souring relations with Janhvi?
Kartik Aaryan's exit from Dharma Productions' Dostana 2 is undoubtedly one of the biggest stories in India's tinseltown. While Karan Johar's studio announced the removal of the actor, neither Johar nor Aaryan has spoken up about the actual cause of the tiff, giving room for various speculations. Now, recent reports suggest that Aaryan's souring relations with lead actress Janhvi Kapoor led to the fallout.
According to ETimes, Aaryan had a major fallout with the Gunjan Saxena actress in January. Things got so bad that Aaryan told director Collin D'Cunha to scrap Dostana 2. It was after this that Aaryan reportedly started to delay shooting and suggested bringing in Kapoor's replacement. The actress had cut off all communication with Aaryan by then.
To recall, the actors had momentarily unfollowed each other on Instagram in January. Before that romance rumors were in the air, following the leak of their cozy pictures in Goa. But when their tiff became uncontrollable, Johar decided to "drop Kartik rather than drag the problem further," even though he had to reshoot major portions of the film. He also incurred hefty losses.
Earlier, an insider was quoted by a portal that Aaryan's demand for a pay hike in the middle of the project had made his relationship with the Dharma honcho bitter. It stated that the Luka Chuppi star had initially signed Dostana 2 in 2019, but within the last two years, his market value escalated sharply. Citing this, he had demanded higher remuneration.
While we are nowhere near to finding out the real reason, Johar will be desperately looking for another lead, given the money and time he has invested in the project. Previously, a report suggested that makers had approached Akshay Kumar to come on board with a personal request from Johar's end. Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, and Varun Dhawan are some other names being speculated.
