Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, who made their acting debut in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year in 2012 alongside Sidharth Malhotra, followed up the film’s success with another Dharma production, the Shashank Khaitan-directed Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania in 2014 and its 2017 sequel, Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Now, Mirror has learnt that the hit jodi is reuniting for a fourth screen outing, for Abhishek Varman’s upcoming romance-drama, Shiddat. The two-hero project will roll by 2018-end.

In an interview with Mirror (February 28), Varun, who was then on a multi-city promotional tour with his Dulhania for their last release, had pointed out that he shared a very close bond with her, and over the years, they have come to love and accept each other for who they are. “Alia and I are always in the same boat. Our styles are different, we chose different films but the things that go on in our head are often the same. Our conversations often begin with me asking Alia, ‘Is this the right thing to do? Does this need to change?’ and she assuring me that I’m on the right track. Five minutes later, I’ll become the one calming her down. That’s our life in a nutshell,” Varun had explained, adding that if the story was great, he’d definitely team up with Alia again soon.

Meanwhile Abhishek, who after assisting on Jodhaa Akbar, My Name Is Khan and SOTY, made his directorial debut with the screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller, 2 States, featuring Alia and Arjun Kapoor, and went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Director. He had been working on the Shiddat script for over a year when he approached Varun.

Over the last two months, Abhishek, with mentor Karan Johar and Alia, has gone back and forth on the script, “which is still in a premature stage”, according to a source close to the development, and the shooting schedule is being modified to fit both Varun and Alia’s dates.

Buzz was that Aditya Roy Kapur would be stepping into the shoes of the parallel male lead. However, rumours are rife that Abhishek may be getting his 2 States hero, Arjun, for the part. While the film’s spokesperson confirmed that Varun and Alia are joining forces for Abhishek’s film, the third lead is still under wraps.