Karan Johar not keen to cast a star kid in Dostana 2, wants to avoid nepotism debate?

By Murtuza Iqbal

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Kartik Aaryan is no more a part of Karan Johar’s production venture Dostana 2. Reportedly, the actor was told to leave the film due to his unprofessional behaviour. While Dharma Productions had given a statement about it, Kartik is yet to speak about the whole scenario.

Meanwhile, there have been multiple reports about which actors are being considered for the film. And now, a recent report in Bollywood Hungama states that Karan is not keen to cast a star kid in Dostana 2 as he wants to avoid the nepotism debate.

A source told the portal, "Karan has had multiple meetings with his creative team and director brainstorming on the casting. The names zeroed in by them include Akshay Kumar, Rajkummar Rao, Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra and Siddhant Chaturvedi. However, Karan Johar is pushing his best to get Akshay on board the film, as he is the biggest star of all the names mentioned and will take the Dostana franchise to the next level.”

"Karan Johar wants an outsider to avoid any insider vs outsider debate giving a rebirth to nepotism. Hence the first choice is Akshay. But if things don't work out, he will move ahead to explore the collaboration with other actors. Of the 5 shortlisted names, 4 are outsiders and hence, a safe bet at the moment. The core idea is to get an outsider replaced by an outsider," the source added.

Directed by Collin D'Cunha, Dostana 2 also stars Janhvi Kapoor and Lakshya.