Last Friday it was announced that Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan will be on board for the upcoming romantic thriller ‘Freddy’. Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms and Jay Shewakramani’s Northern Lights Films are collaborating on the project. This film will be directed by Shashanka Ghosh, who directed Veere Di Wedding (2018). Read below to know the deeds.
All the fans of Kartik Aaryan were astounded by this development. After all, it was widely known in May 2021 that the actor had been fired from Freddy. This was the time when Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Northern Lights Films were set to produce the film, which would be directed by Ajay Bahl of Section 375 (2019) fame. Katrina Kaif was also involved in the project. The media had widely reported at the time that Kartik had demanded revisions to the script, prompting the studio’s severe response. At that time, neither the actor nor the production firms issued an official comment. The news came as Karan Johar was rumoured to have fired him from Dostana 2 for similar grounds.
So, how did Kartik Aaryan reclaim his role in Freddy? According to a source close to the industry, the actor had never quit production in the first place. A close source revealed, “Red Chillies had liked the script but wanted some changes to be done. Since Northern Lights wasn’t comfortable with this idea, Jay Shewakramani asked if he could collaborate with some other studio for Freddy. Red Chillies graciously agreed and this is how Balaji Telefilms came into the picture.”
While another source revealed that, “The film couldn’t be made at that time as Ajay Bahl’s dates were not available. There were no differences or anything of that sort between Red Chillies and Northern Lights.”
Meanwhile, Ajay Bahl is directing Blurr, the Taapsee Pannu-starrer that also happens to be her debut production. Ajay said a few days ago that he couldn’t make the project owing to scheduling conflicts. He claimed that the producers of Freddy wanted to shoot in August, but he couldn’t because he was committed to Blurr until early September. He introduced Jay Shewakramani as a friend and wished Freddy’s team starring Kartik Aaryan all the very best.
Kartik Aaryan’s second collaboration with Ekta Kapoor is Freddy. In addition to the thriller, he has signed with Balaji for Shehzada, the official remake of the Telugu classic Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020). A trade source quipped, “We were told that Kartik Aaryan is losing films and nobody wants to work with him. Today, he has five films in his kitty, all belonging to diverse genres and backed by reputed producers and helmed by talented directors.”
Kartik Aaryan’s other upcoming films include the horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, the Netflix thriller Dhamaka, and the patriotic drama Captain India, in addition to Shehzada and Freddy.
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