Varun Dhawan in ‘Badlapur 2’?

Recently, there were rumours that a female protagonist would be seen in Sriram Raghavan’s sequel to 2015’s ‘Badalpur’. However, it’s now being said that Varun Dhawan, who was male lead in the original, will also star in the second instalment.

Dhawan has signed Shoojit Sircar’s next and reportedly also two of Raghavan’s forthcoming ventures. A source told DNA, “Varun has signed two big films — while one is Shoojit Sircar’s next, the other one is the sequel to Badlapur, and will be directed by Sriram Raghavan again. Plus, he is in talks with Sriram for another film. Though the actor enjoys his commercial successes like Badrinath Ki Dulhaniyan, he loves to tread the dark, edgy genre and is keen to be part of Badlapur 2 script again. The sequel, though based in Badlapur, will be a completely different story and not related to the first one. And while the makers may repeat Nawazuddin Siddiqui, lead actresses Huma Qureshi and Yami Gautam won’t be part of the film.Varun will shoot for both his new films this year”.

On the rumours that Deepika Padukone could be seen in ‘Badlapur 2’, the source added, “A sequel to Badlapur, with a female protagonist and a completely new cast, was being planned. The producer Dinesh Vijan had spoken to Deepika about it, and she had loved the idea. But those talks fell through as the script didn’t shape up to expectations. Sriram and Varun have shared a great equation and both are keen to work together again. Sriram starts his film with Ayushmann Khurrana on June 14, and will start Badlapur 2 after that — early next year. Ironically, Varun’s other film is with the maker who launched Ayushmann”.

Dhawan will be seen next in ‘Judwaa 2’ which is directed by his father David.