Kalank, Karan Johar's mega project, to star Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapoor

Karan Johar has announced his upcoming mega project with some of the biggest Bollywood names cast together. Kalank, which is slated for a 19 April, 2019 release, stars Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt. [caption id=“attachment_4436043” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha will come together for Kalank. Image from Twitter/@Rahulrautwrites[/caption]  

Initially speculated as Shiddat, the multi-starrer will be directed by Abhishek Varman who made his directorial debut with 2 States. Therefore, Kalank will mark the director’s second collaboration with Bhatt who played a leading role in the romantic drama. The Fox Studios and Sajid Nadiadwala-backed drama will reportedly be set in the 1940s. Sharing his thoughts on the film, Johar told the  Times of India, “I am supremely excited about Kalank. It’s an epic drama with a solid beating heart. The coming together of this formidable and fantastic cast makes this big event film exceptionally exciting for me. Abhishek Varman’s exemplary vision and our prolific partners, Fox Star Studios and Sajid Nadiadwala, make it even more special.” Kalank also marks Bhatt and Dhawan’s fourth collaboration. The two have earlier worked on blockbusters like Student of the Year, Badri Ki Dulhania and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. It will also reunite the two ’90s stars Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit who have been paired together in films like Khalnayak, Thanedar and Saajan. While this will be Johar’s umpteenth collaboration with Alia and Varun, he has signed Aditya once again after Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Sonakshi after Ittefaq, Sanjay Dutt after Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath, and Madhuri after her special song ‘Ghagra’ in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and signing up as a distributor of her debut Marathi film Bucket List. Originally, Sridevi was signed opposite Dutt in the film but after her demise, her daughter Janhvi Kapoor announced Madhuri will play her late mother’s part in the period drama.