MUMBAI MIRROR (August 2, 2019)

After a year-and-a-half, the cold war between Akshay Kumar and Bhushan Kumar has come to an end. The two, who had become close friends collaborating on several films like Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Bhool Bhulaiya and Airlift, fell out when the actor opted out of Mogul, the biopic of Bhushan’s late father, Gulshan Kumar.

A few months later, The T-Series head honcho decided to release Satyameva Jayate alongside Akki’s Gold on August 15, 2018, and buzz was it was his way of getting back at the actor for leaving their pet project in the lurch. While the filmmaker denied the speculation then, it didn’t come as a surprise when his acquisition, Saaho, toplining Baahubali sensation Prabhas, was announced to open in cinemas this Independence Day weekend, along with Akshay’s Mission Mangal.

Mirror has learnt that a few weeks ago, the duo decided to let bygones be bygones. According to a source close to the development, “Akshay and Bhushan met and decided to bury the hatchet. During the meeting, there was a reference to both their films releasing together on August 15 and if it could have been avoided. But since that seemed unlikely, neither of them pursued the subject.” The source adds that Bhushan understands that Akshay won’t be doing Mogul and it’s up to him and Aamir Khan, with whom he is collaborating on his pet project, to decide on another actor.

While Bhushan Kumar remained unavailable for comment, Akshay stated, “There’s no problem between us at all. Bhushan ji had come over to my office a couple of days ago and we’re planning a film together.” When asked if he will be acting in the sequel to Bhool Bhulaiya, Akshay said evasively, “We’ll be announcing it soon.”