Kartik Aaryan and Karan Johar's journey's come full circle: From Dostana 2 fallout to a film collaboration, Here's how

Kartik Aaryan and Karan Johar once made headlines for collaborating on a much-anticipated project, Dostana 2. The project marked their first collaboration and the second instalment of the hit film Dostana(2008), which fans were eagerly waiting for, The cast was finalised with Kartik, Laksh Lalwani and Janhvi Kapoor, however, things did not fall right place. Karan’s production house issued an official statement in which they mentioned the cast reconsideration, sparking fallout rumours between him and Kartik.

The official statement issued on April 16, 2021, read, “Due to professional circumstances, on which we have decided to maintain dignified silence - we will be recasting Dostana 2, directed by Collin D’Cunha. Please wait for the official announcement soon (sic).”Following this, reports of creative differences between Kartik and Karan emerged. Well, both of them maintained stoic silence about the issue for quite some time.

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Later, Kartik and Karan addressed the matter with a dignified stance. While Kartik refused to comment on Karan directly and said, “I just focus on my work. That’s all I would like to say on this. Look at my (film) line-up (right now),” he told in an old interview with Indian Express. In another media interaction, he said, “What happens, at times, is people make ‘baat ka batangad’. There is nothing more to it. No one has so much time. Everybody just wants to work, do good work. Other than that, things are just rumours," he had said.

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Earlier in April this year, the director-actor duo were spotted together in the city, after which patch-up rumours began circulating. However, the two officially shared the frame at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023 after an alleged rift. Karan praised Kartik saying his films have deeply resonated with the country and have always brought so much fervour back to the cinema halls. The two also addressed the fallout issue together at the festival where Karan said, “We made one attempt and for various reasons, that didn’t fructify. We have been in conversation to do something and I hope that does happen.” And Kartik replied, “I hope there is no ChatGPT involved, hopefully.”

And today, on the occasion of Kartik Aaryan's birthday, Karan Johar finally ended the feud after two years. His Dharma Productions announced a new film with Kartik in the lead role. Directed by Sandeep Modi, the film will reportedly be a war drama, which will be released on August 15, 2025. That’s how Kartik and Karan’s lives came full circle and all is well now!