Controversies and Kartik Aaryan appear to go hand-in-hand. Last year, there had been a great deal of speculation surrounding the actor’s exit from Karan Johar’s Dostana 2. Aaryan now faces the heat after producer Manish Shah revealed that he “threatened to walk out” of Shehzada, the remake of the Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020) if the dubbed Hindi version of the Allu Arjun-starrer hit theatres. Shah of Goldmines Telefilms, who holds the rights to the Hindi version, reportedly said that Aaryan’s “unprofessionalism” would have resulted in a loss of Rs 40 crore. Cashing in on the success of the dubbed Hindi version of Arjun’s recent release, Pushpa: The Rise, the makers of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo decided to do something similar. All their plans have now ground to a halt. Shehzada, directed by Rohit Dhawan, went on the floors last October. The makers of the upcoming film were quick to come out in support of Aaryan. Dhawan feels Aaryan’s “intent and excitement for the film is unquestionable. It has been a joy working with him. As director and actor, we share a solid bond and nothing can come in the way of our love for the film.” Producer Bhushan Kumar added, “We felt that Shehzada should release in theatres first and not the dubbed Hindi version of 
Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. A film’s release is always the producer’s decision.” 

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Shakun Batra, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Deepika Padukone. Pics/Yogen Shah