Ever since its announcement few months back, Karan Johar’s magnum opus ‘Shuddhi’ has been struggling to find a lead couple for itself.
First, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor were finalised. Both actors, however, later bowed out of the project citing prior commitments as reason. Then Karan Johar was mulling over casting Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone as the leads.
But before he could approach and finalise them, the pair was chosen by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela – Ram-Leela’. The duo, who started dating each other after the movie, then chose to work with Bhansali for the second time in his next venture ‘Bajirao Mastani’. This also led to a cold war between KJo and Bhansali, which got solved only at the recently held success party of ‘Piku’ hosted by Deepika.
After this, Salman Khan signed on the dotted lines to play the lead role in ‘Shuddhi’.
The actress, however, was still undecided.
But due to the recent hearing of Salman Khan hit-and-run case and an uncertainity over his availability, Salman Khan has opted out of the project.
Reports also say that this development might be the culmination of the whole AIB Roast controversy, which didn’t go down well with Salman Khan as it was his sister Arpita too, who was made fun of at the event.
So, with all the stars bowing out of the project, Karan Johar turned to his trusted ‘Students’ – Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.
A happy Karan Johar tweeted:
And finally..SHUDDHI starring VARUN DHAWAN and ALIA BHATT…directed by KARAN MALHOTRA..@Varun_dvn @aliaa08 @karanmalhotra21 @DharmaMovies
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) May 21, 2015
Contrary to what generally happens, Salman’s bowing out of the project hasn’t brought any bad blood between him and KJo, as Salman himself tweeted to show support and congratulated Varun for bagging the coveted role.
Kamaal karte ho Varun Dhawan…made ur dad n me so proud of u… happy Shhuddhi pic.twitter.com/DfQtSEqcpo
— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 21, 2015
Individually too, Varun and Alia have carved a niche for themselves in the industry. While Alia has mesmerised the audiences with her acting chops in ‘Highway’ and ‘2 States’, Varun Dhawan proved his mettle in the revenge drama ‘Badlapur’.
