Shuddhi Finally Shelved

Karan Johar's ill-fated Shuddhi has finally been put to rest. Reliable sources at Dharma Productions confirm that the producer has decided to "not make the film at all".

Says the source, "Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have been signed for Shuddhi. But that film is not being made at all. Karan will be producing another subject with the same director Karan Malhotra and the same cast of Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt."

This brings to an end a 2-year battle to put together an epic costume drama. Hrithik Roshan had been signed to be directed by Karan Malhotra, as the star-director team was seen to be a winner after Agneepath.

Kareena Kapoor was on board as the leading lady. But then Hrithik didn't want to work with Kareena. So she was dropped. Then Hrithik too opted out.

Next, Karan offered the film to Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone . But they preferred to do Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani. Thereafter Karan spent many months pursuing and persuading Salman Khan who would say neither yes nor no though secretly he told his friends he would never do Shuddhi.

Finally Karan Johar roped in his Student Of The Year protges Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. But now Shuddhi has been shelved as it is seen to be financially impractical.

Thus falls the curtain on a project that was never meant to be.

The way things are looking even Ranbir Kapoor's superhero film is on thin ice and Ayan's last film was a huge success.

Also personally I don't buy that there is another movie with Karan Malhotra, VD and Alia. That sounds more like a consolation statement. I think as it is it will be another 2-3 years before Karan Malhotra directs again.