Recently, news of Karan Johar's banner, Dharma Productions, firing Kartik Aaryan from their upcoming film, Dostana 2, had raised many eyebrows. Kartik and the makers who chose to remain tight-lipped about the entire incident. KJO’s Dharma Production later released a statement saying, “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.” Post the ugly fallout between Karan and Kartik there were many speculative names doing the rounds as the actor's replacement. While it was recently speculated that the makers are considering Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham for Dostana 2, reportedly Akshay Kumar too has been approached by Karan for the lead part in the Dostana sequel.
However, as per a Pinkvilla report, producer Karan and director Collin haven’t reached out to any actor as yet for Dostana 2. In fact, some are even saying that Varun Dhawan has been approached for the same, but there’s no truth to that. They might reach out to some of these actors later but for now Collin is focusing on fine tuning the script. They will look at casting in some time. Akshay has earlier worked with Dharma Productions in Kesari and Good Newwz (both 2019).A romantic comedy, Dostana 2 that also stars Janhvi Kapoor and debutant Laksh Lalwani is about a brother and sister duo falling for the same guy. It is touted to be a sequel to the 2008 hit film Dostana that starred Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra.