Amid Nepotism Backlash, Akshay Kumar & Rohit Shetty Dropped Karan Johar's Share From Sooryavanshi?

A unconfirmed report that had gone viral on Wednesday, suggesting Karan Johar has been dropped as co-producer of the much-hyped Akshay Kumar-starrer Sooryavanshi, has been refuted as "fake news" by the makers.

Late on Wednesday, social media was abuzz with reports that the film's director Rohit Shetty and lead star Akshay Kumar have dropped Johar's Dharma Productions and its share from the film, further claiming that they had even returned Johar's investment in the film.

Soon, the film's producers and presenter Reliance Entertainment were confirming that the news doing rounds of Johar not being part of Sooryavanshi is incorrect.

Trade expert Taran Adarsh also tweeted: "IMPORTANT... News doing the rounds of #KaranJohar not being part of #Sooryavanshi is untrue, clarifies #RelianceEntertainment."

In Sooryavanshi, Akshay will be seen as ATS officer Veer Sooryavanshi, on a lookout for terrorists planning a deadly strike on Mumbai. Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh will also reprise their roles of Singham and Simmba in cameos, to help Akshay bust the terror plot.

Actress Katrina Kaif will be seen as Veer Sooryavanshi's wife while Jackie Shroff plays the antagonist.

Sooryavanshi also features Gulshan Grover, Abhimanyu Singh, Niharica Raizada, Sikandar Kher and Nikitin Dheer. The film is presented by Reliance Entertainment.

The news comes a day after it was announced that Sooryavanshi will release in theatres during Diwali this year.

Meanwhile, Karan Johar has been at the receiving end of a volley of criticism after the news of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death broke. Sushant died by suicide on June 14 and it is alleged that "professional rivalry" may have had a role to play. However, actor Swara Bhasker and filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma have defended Karan, calling the social media backlash ‘height of idiocy’. With the debate around nepotism reignited, Karan has also unfollowed several accounts on Twitter.

(With inputs from IANS)