Nearly a decade after Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and six years after its sequel, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, the Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt popular romantic comedy franchise is gearing up for its third installment. Karan Johar is taking his premiere franchise ahead and has scheduled Dulhania 3 to roll this year, but with a major casting change.

PeepingMoon.com has exclusively learned that Alia will not star in Dulhania 3. Instead, Janhvi Kapoor has been brought on board to play a new “Dulhania” opposite Varun. Alia is not returning to the cherished franchise, and while the reason for her absence remains unclear (it could be her busy schedule in 2024), it has benefited Janhvi as she has bagged her first franchise film with this title. The Dulhania threequel will mark Varun’s and Janhvi’s second collaboration after their endearing on-screen chemistry in Nitesh Tiwari's Bawaal last year.

Shashank Khaitan is directing this part as well, aiming to recapture the spirit of the franchise in an intriguingly repackaged manner this time. Dulhania 3 will have a different plot and characters and is in no way connected to the previous parts, much like the approach taken with Badrinath Ki Dulhania. The pre-production for the film has already begun and will go on the floor in the next few months.

Varun is expected to shoot for this Dharma Productions venture after finishing Atlee’s Theri remake. He is supposed to shoot for Dulhania 3 alongside his father David Dhawan’s comedy flick, which is scheduled to hit the floors in April. Janhvi also has two films with Sidharth Malhotra and Tiger Shroff lined up, and will schedule her dates for Dulhania 3 according to its shooting timeline. Stay tuned to PeepingMoon.com for further updates!