Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 5, 2020)

Mirror was the first to report (November 27, 2019) that Varun Dhawan is reuniting with his Dulhania series director Shashank Khaitan for the third time.

On January 13, the actor unveiled his first look from the comic-thriller, titled Mr Lele, featuring Janhvi Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar as the female leads. The Karan Johar production was scheduled to go on the floors this month.

Now, we’ve learnt that the project has been put on the back-burner. While one of the reasons is speculated to be an issue with the script, a source close to the development informs that the decision was taken due to scheduling conflicts. “Shashank had begun work on the preproduction, but the actors’ dates aren’t aligning. A new plan for Mr Lele will be worked out at a later stage,” the source informed.

In the film, which was scheduled to be shot extensively in Mumbai, Varun plays a Maharashtrian character for the first time. While speaking to Mirror earlier (January 15, 2020), the actor had revealed that he was looking forward to exploring the comic-thriller genre with Mr Lele, saying, “After reading the script, I called Shashank 109 times in two days.”
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Sources suggest Mr Lele put on hold due to lack of leads' - Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan's combination dates
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 5, 2020)

Varun Dhawan and director Shashank Khaitan had kicked off the new year with the announcement of a new film, Mr Lele. The comedy, marking the duo's third collaboration after Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) and Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), was scheduled to go on floors in the first week of March. However, mid-day has learnt that the makers have now decided to put the film — also featuring Janhvi Kapoor — on the backburner. Reason — the busy date diary of Dhawan and Kapoor.

A source reveals, "It was getting increasingly impossible to get combination dates of the two actors. In the next few weeks, Varun will get busy with Sriram Raghavan's biopic on Arun Khetrapal. On her part, Janhvi will kick off promotions for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl later this month, followed by a long schedule of Karan Johar's period drama, Takht. The two actors had gone to Khaitan's residence last week to find a way out, but the conversation came to naught. The film could be revived at a later point, but it has been called off for the time being."