From Kartik Aaryan to Shraddha Kapoor, a look at some Bollywood stars who left films midway

Karan Johan’s Dharma Production fired actor Kartik Aaryan from their upcoming movie ‘Dostana 2’. The actor was kicked out of the new venture because of his ‘unprofessional behavior’. In an official statement, The Dharma production said they will be recasting Dostana 2, which is a sequel to Dostana (2008) starring Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. This is not the first time an actor has been replaced from a film in between the shoot. Let’s take a look at some of the others instances in the past.

Director Amole Gupte’s biographical sports film ‘Saina’ based on the life of Indian Badminton star Saina Nehwal starring Parineeti Chopra was all set to hit the screen in September 2020 but was postponed due to global coronavirus pandemic. Earlier, Shraddha Kapoor was signed to play Nehwal's role but later she opted out of the venture due to health issues.

Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi, who is well known for his ‘Circuit’ role, was replaced by Khiladi Akshay Kumar in Jolly LLB 2, sequel of 2013 legal comedy film Jolly LLB. As per the reports, Warsi in an interview said that the producers wanted a “bigger star” for the sequel and hence he was replaced by Kumar.

The 2019 romantic drama film ‘Kabir Singh’ starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani was a big hit. The film is a remake of Telugu film ‘Arjun Reddy’. But Shahid Kapoor was not the first choice of makers. The producers first approached Arjun Kapoor for the role but later director Sandeep Vanga Reddy replaced Arjun with Shahid for the lead role as he believed the actor was "the most apt.."

The 2019 action-thriller film Romeo Akbar Walter was initially signed by Sushant Singh Rajput but due to his prior commitments Rajput actor opted out the film. Later John Abraham took the lead role.

A 2003 romantic drama film Chalte Chalte, starring Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee, produced by SRK and Juhi Chawla’s Dreamz Unlimited, was offered to Mukherjee next to Khan. But due to her prior commitments, Rani Mukherjee opted out of the film and her role was offered to Aishwarya Rai. The actress signed the role but as per the reports she had to leave the film due to the disruptions created by her then-boyfriend Salman Khan. Later Rani Mukherjee agreed to take over the role and the film became a hit at the box-office.