Salman Khan out; Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt finalised for Karan Johar’s ‘Shuddhi’

But before he could approach and finalise them, the pair was chosen by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela – Ram-Leela’. The duo, who started dating each other after the movie, then chose to work with Bhansali for the second time in his next venture ‘Bajirao Mastani’. This also led to a cold war between KJo and Bhansali, which got solved only at the recently held success party of ‘Piku’ hosted by Deepika.

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After this, Salman Khan signed on the dotted lines to play the lead role in ‘Shuddhi’. The actress, however, was still undecided.

But due to the recent hearing of Salman Khan hit-and-run case and an uncertainity over his availability, Salman Khan has opted out of the project.

Reports also say that this development might be the culmination of the whole AIB Roast controversy, which didn’t go down well with Salman Khan as it was her sister Arpita too, who was made fun of at the event.

So, with all the stars bowing out of the project, Karan Johar turned to his trusted ‘Students’ – Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.

A happy Karan Johar tweeted:

And finally..SHUDDHI starring VARUN DHAWAN and ALIA BHATT…directed by KARAN MALHOTRA..@Varun_dvn @aliaa08 @karanmalhotra21 @DharmaMovies

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) May 21, 2015

With this, the much awaited movie ‘Shuddhi’ finally has a starcast. The supporting roles, however, still remain to be decided upon.

Contrary to what generally happens, Salman’s bowing out of the project hasn’t brought any bad blood between him and KJo, as Salman himself tweeted to show support and congratulated Varun for bagging the coveted role.

Kamaal karte ho Varun Dhawan…made ur dad n me so proud of u… happy Shhuddhi pic.twitter.com/DfQtSEqcpo

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 21, 2015

This will be Varun and Alia’s third film together after ‘Student of the Year’ and ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’. Both movies have done wonders at the Box Office and Alia and Varun’s chemistry has been appreciated.

Individually too, Varun and Alia have carved a niche for themselves in the industry. While Alia has mesmerised the audiences with her acting chops in ‘Highway’ and ‘2 States’, Varun Dhawan proved his mettle in the revenge drama ‘Badlapur’.

With the formal announcement, Varun and Alia’s fans took Twitter by storm and #Shuddhi started trending soon after. There are mixed reactions on this announcement on the Twitterverse, with some supporting KJo’s decision in trying out a successful onscreen couple in a big movie and with some outrightly denigrating the choice of such “young stars” to play Lord Shiva and Sati.