In the beginning of 2017 which had started with a bang for Bollywood when filmmaker Karan Johar announced that he was co-producing a movie with Salman Khan which would star Akshay Kumar. The movie would be based on Battle of Saragarhi and would be helmed by Anurag Singh.
Karan had tweeted, "Supremely excited to coproduce with @BeingSalmanKhan #SKF on a film starring @akshaykumar directed by Anurag Singh...releasing 2018!"
On the other hand, Salman had tweeted, "Joining hands on a project where @akshaykumar is the hero and will be co produced by @karanjohar and #SKF."
Then, in July 2017, news broke out that Salman had backed out of Kesari. However, Salman had tweeted, "Don't follow rumours. follow me . ek baar jo maine commitment kar di toh phir...... very much doing the film with @akshaykumar."
Ultimately, the news turned out to be true and Akshay became the co-producer of Kesari instead. Dharma Production's Twitter handle had tweeted, "Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar proudly present 'Kesari' based on one of the bravest battles fought in India 'The Battle of Saragarhi' Directed by Anurag Singh and starring Akshay Kumar Releasing Holi 2019."
Dabangg of Bollywood Salman finally spilled the beans on why he backed out of Kesari. "Karan has his home production and I have mine. He had come to me long back with the project, but he did all the work from casting to everything. I thought just adding my name was not right." Meanwhile, Kesari is slated for a Holi 2019 release and the hunt for the leading lady is still on with names like Parineeti Chopra as the front contender.