SCOOP: The REAL reason why Kartik Aaryan is no longer a part of Karan Johar’s Dostana 2
“Kartik Aaryan had come on board Dostana 2 in 2019 for a minimal amount of Rs. 2-3 crores, and at present his market value is upside of Rs. 10 crores. At first he asked Karan for a hike in his acting fees mid-way as his market value had gone up big time in the last two years. While Karan believed it was unprofessional on Kartik’s part to renegotiate the remuneration mid-way, he tried to compensate him with another film, Mr. Lele. Kartik also agreed to come on board the said film and was all charged up for a quirky ride. But to his surprise, he found himself replaced all of a sudden by Vicky Kaushal without being notified. Kartik was also upset with Dharma Productions when they gave Shashank Khaitan's Yoddha to Shahid Kapoor. Although Shahid soon quit, they never approached Kartik for the role anyway,” an insider shared with Bollywood Hungama.
Later, Karan offered him another film, a cricket story directed by Sharan Sharma of Gunjan Saxena fame. To avoid being dropped out of the film, Kartik asked Karan to execute and sign a contract with him. The insider continued further, "Meanwhile, Kartik continued giving reasons of the Covid 19 pandemic to not start shoot for Dostana 2 and Karan didn't push him much either given their relationship. But when he shot for Dhamaka, Karan was upset. They had an indoor meeting where Karan expressed his disappointment." Kartik was clear he wouldn’t shoot for Dostana 2 till he signed Sharan’s next and apparently told Karan, ‘I will shoot for Dostana 2, only after you sign the contract for Sharan Sharma’s next.’ Karan felt there was a total lack of trust and couldn’t commit to the film until the script and screenplay were locked,” the insider further said.
Karan meanwhile decided to go ahead and start the shoot of Mr. Lele with Vicky Kaushal and Janhvi Kapoor from April. The moment Kartik got to know about this development; he informed Dharma Productions that the only dates available for Dostana 2 this year was from 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. Post that incident, Karan and Kartik stopped speaking with each other.
“Karan felt it was unprofessional on Kartik’s end to arm twist, and this finally led to a big fall out between the two, with things going ugly. Kartik on the other hand felt he was horribly underpaid for the job, as he was definitely the biggest selling point of the film and Karan was not keeping up his promise of a second film. Kartik also developed some issues with Janhvi Kapoor, due to their break up and it all culminated into a big fight, with money, like always coming in the center. All issues might have been resolved, but unprofessionalism took things to a different tangent and Karan was left with no choice but to oust him from Dostana 2.”
Dostana 2 will now be made with a new actor joining Janhvi and Lakshya.
