Hyderabad: Actor Varun Dhawan, producer Karan Johar and director Shashank Khaitan were all set to collaborate again for a comedy titled Mr Lele. The film would have marked their third collaboration after Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) and Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017). Mr Lele eventually was put on hold and now the makers are aiming to revive the film but not with Varun.
The makers had also released the first look poster of Varun from Mr Lele in January 2020. But the film got axed even before it took off. Shashank, however, had a positive perspective towards it and back then he had said that shelving the film has only done good to all involved since they were supposed to start filming from March 13, 2020, and the country went under COVID-19 induced lockdown a few days later.
READ | Shelving Varun Dhawan starrer Mr Lele 'blessing in disguise', says Shashank Khaitan. Read why
While the team is thinking to revive Mr Lele, KJo's protege Varun is reportedly being replaced by the National Award-winning actor Vicky Kaushal. According to a webloid report, Shashank has reworked the whole script and is ready to start shooting this year. Vicky has reportedly given the nod to the story which is a comic take on being a spy.
The revival of Mr Lele is being attributed to Shahid Kapoor's exit from Shashank's other directorial venture, Yoddha. When the Kabir Singh actor opted out of the film, Shashank turned to Mr Lele which was earlier put on hold indefinitely. The makers are planning to wrap the film in a month and Vicky will be kickstarting the shoot from March. After Raazi and Bhoot, Mr Lele will be Vicky's third outing with Karan Johar's banner Dharma Productions. He also has Karan's ambitious project Takht in his kitty.