Has Karan Johar shelved 'Dostana 2' after Kartik Aaryan's exit?
What's the story
Last month, we learned that Rajkummar Rao has truly replaced Kartik Aaryan in a cricket drama that would be backed by Dharma Productions. Janhvi Kapoor is the leading lady in this Sharan Sharma-directorial. The replacement was not officially declared and people simply joined the dots post Aaryan's fallout with Dharma's Karan Johar. A new rumor now suggests that Dostana 2 has also been shelved.
Significance
Why does this film matter?
In July 2019, Aaryan had bagged Dostana 2, the sequel to Dostana, a 2008 release. Since then there was a lot of buzz around the film, especially when the scoop dropped that Aaryan will play a gay character, his first. And then suddenly he was dropped, from Dostana sequel and the cricket film. Finding a replacement reportedly was proving to be a tough task.
Details
Even Akshay Kumar was approached for the role
When Aaryan had exited the project, 50% of the film's shooting was already done. But still Johar and the Dostana 2 team were ready to reshoot it "with slight tweaking in the script." Even Akshay Kumar was approached for the role, but now there's a strong possibility that "Dostana 2 has been put on the backburner completely," a source told Bollywood Hungama.
Speculation
Johar has given another film to newcomer Lakshya, Kapoor
Apart from Kapoor and Aaryan, Dostana 2 was to star newcomer Lakshya. To compensate for the lost debut vehicle, Dharma has reportedly given him another project, and gave Mr and Mrs Mahi (in which Rao was signed in place of Aaryan) and another film to Kapoor. And, Johar has also approached Kumar with a film called Selfie, and he is on board that.
Career
These are the upcoming projects of Aaryan
"Karan has put Dostana 2 silently under the shelf, hoping that it sees the light of day sometime in future," the source added. Meanwhile, Aaryan is gearing up for the release of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, which hits cinema halls on March 25, 2022. He is currently shooting Shehzada with Kriti Sanon in Delhi, and has Freddy, and Captain India, in his kitty.