Is Vicky Kaushal the reason behind, Kartik Aaryan's ouster from Dostana 2?

Karan Johar’s Dostana 2, a sequel to the 2008 comedy featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The sequel, directed by Colin D’Cunha, was to feature Kartik Aaryan, Janhvi Kapoor and newcomer Lakshya Lalwani. However, Kartik was ousted from the project, and Dharma Productions issued a statement that read as "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." Now as per reports in Bollywood Hungama, the real reason behind the fallout is revealed. A source told the entertainment portal, "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."

The source added, "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,"The source further said, "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. "It is also being reported that Kartik wanted Karan to sign him for Sharan Sharma's next, then only he will resume Dostana 2 shoot. This did not go well with KJo and both stopped talking to each other. The source concluded by saying, "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. "They added, "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 centre. 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." On the work front, Kartik Aaryan will be seen in the Netflix film, 'Dhamaka' and 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2' opposite Kiara Advani.