Now here is a case of all smoke, no fire… Rumours have been flying fast and thick about Rajkumar Hirani signing on Varun Dhawan for his next. Word had it that after a long and productive association with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, this filmmaker who has won kudos for his meaningful content would be taking the plunge as a solo producer for the first time. He was supposed to start working on the project once he had wrapped up the long-awaited Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Dutt biopic. It was even reported that Hirani’s film would be a social comedy, and would star Varun Dhawan in the lead.

However, now comes the surprise – the director has denied this news completely. He has come out to say, “There is no such thing. I keep getting to know about all this through the Press.”

…Which is really a bit curious considering even the Press are not as creative as B-town denizens would like to believe! It had been revealed by a source close to Hirani that Vidhu Vinod himself had advised him to carve his own path as a filmmaker. Hirani was allegedly even fine-tuning his film, which was touted to go on the floors for a late 2019 release.

In fact, the buzz had it that Hirani had originally wanted to cast Shah Rukh Khan for his film.

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The duo had even met and discussed the project. However, once the script was readied, Hirani apparently realized that the role would need a younger actor. That’s when he turned his attention to Varun Dhawan, who has been emerging as quite the powerhouse performer, liked by both the masses and classes.

However, now Varun Dhawan's office too, has denied the news of the actor doing any film with Hirani. Could this mutual denial be a case of talks not working out? Entirely possible. Complete denial is often the best way to save face!