Karan Johar and Salman Khan's professional collaboration seems to have hit a major roadblock. The stars, who were planning to work together for director Vishnuvardhan's film Bull, are now reportedly no longer working together. According to a Bollywood Hungama report, this decision came about because Salman opted out of Bull, an army film being produced by Karan's Dharma Productions. The movie was initially scheduled to start shooting in November 2023, but it faced several delays, being pushed back to January, then February, and finally May. After several discussions, Karan requested more time until July, but Salman decided to prioritise Sajid Nadiadwala's film instead. Sajid's movie with filmmaker AR Murugadoss is ready to start filming in May 2024, while Karan is aiming to begin shooting for Bull in November 2024.
The entertainment website also quoted a source saying, “After a lot of back and forth on the dates, Karan (Johar) and Vishnu (director Vishnuvardhan) were still not able to commit to the exact timelines of the shoot. That's when Salman conveyed his decision to back out from the project. Salman politely informed his decision to Karan. Bhai (Salman Khan) said, ‘Destiny doesn't want this film to happen, so let's move on.' Karan is exploring newer ideas for a collaboration with Salman.”
“He (Karan Johar) might give another try to make Bull a reality but at the moment, the army film is shelved from Salman's end. If Karan can commit to a certain timeline on paper, he might come back and try his luck to relaunch the project,” the source added.
Karan Johar has always been vocal about how Salman Khan helped him by taking on a role that many others had refused. Salman did so by portraying the character of Aman Mehra in Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Even on the superstar's 58th birthday last year, Karan expressed his gratitude to Salman by sharing the anecdote in a detailed Instagram note. The filmmaker wrote, "25 years ago I was at a party lost and confused... A massive movie star came up to me and asked me why I was standing by a corner... I told him I had been to several actors for a part but was politely rejected... The superstar's sister is close to me so he graciously said she had spoken highly of my script and that I should meet him the next day to narrate the film to him."
“I went with a prayer in my heart and a deep desire for a miracle and narrated the first of the film like my life depended on it... He looked at me at the interval point ( by then I was looking like I was at the Sahara desert and water could keep me alive ) kindly offered me water and said I'm on. I was perplexed and said but you are in the second half you haven't heard it? He said, I love your father and my sister will kill me if I don't do this movie and that's how Salman Khan was in KKHH... I am deeply grateful to Alvira and my father's goodwill for making sure I had the perfect Aman and Salman Khan in my debut film,” Karan Johar added.
Read the full note below:
Salman Khan was last seen in Tiger 3 alongside Katrina Kaif. On the other hand, Karan Johar recently produced Yodha, which stars Sidharth Malhotra in the lead role.