Kartik-Luv fallout final

After the unexpected success of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Kartik Aryan’s marketing team have been promoting him as the Next Best Thing. But the actor seems to have paid a high price for the publicity, for it has led to a fallout with his mentor, Luv Ranjan. Apparently, Luv was keen on working with Kartik again, since the actor has been part of all his previous films, but a demand made by the actor led to the cooling of ties.

A well-informed source says, “Kartik suddenly quoted a price that took Luv Ranjan by surprise. Ranjan had mentored Kartik, given him his breakthrough role in Pyaar Ka Punchnama and signed him for all his subsequent directorial ventures, even though Kartik’s films outside Ranjan’s banner were flops. To now hear Kartik ask for his market price was too much for Ranjan to digest.”

The Ae Dil Hai Mushkil actor, Ranbir Kapoor comes into the picture here as he had expressed a desire to work with Luv Ranjan before. The director diverted the role meant for Kartik to Ranbir.

Kartik seems pretty content playing the new star on the block. But there is little to back his 100-crore hero-giri in Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety except for a third lead role in a Karan Johar production where it is being declared, incorrectly, that Kartik is cast opposite Kareena Kapoor.

A source close to the Karan Johar project laughs off the Kareena-Kartik pairing as wishful thinking.

“Why would Karan cast Kareena as Kartik’s co-star unless he is doing a film on the Ranbir-Aishwarya relationship in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil?” says the source.