Katrina Kaif was all but finalized for the female lead in Vikas Bahl’s next. But then a day after the announcement she apparently denied saying yes to the project.

Sources say Katrina had indeed been finalized for Bahl’s film. But she had not anticipated a backlash. Vikas, it may be recalled, had been accused of sexual misconduct two years ago by an employee of Phantom Films of which Bahl was one of the helmers. Bahl had been cleared of the charge by the internal complaints committee of the production house Reliance Entertainment (Phantom Films was affiliated to Reliance) in 2019.

Katrina, sources say, was told that Bahl’s name had been cleared of the charges. She, therefore, agreed to be in his next film. But when faced with a backlash on social media she quickly withdrew herself from the film, leaving Vikas project with a big question mark.

Will any A-list heroine agree to work with him?