Close on the heels of Dhadak's (2018) release, director Shashank Khaitan had announced that he was reuniting with his favourite actor Varun Dhawan for an espionage thriller. Touted as an ambitious action entertainer, the film was to be backed by Karan Johar, thus completing the troika behind the Dulhania series. However, in the latest development, the project — which was to go on floors this year — has been put on the backburner as the director has not been able to crack the script. Interestingly, their epic war saga, Rannbhoomi, was pushed to make way for the thriller.

Confirming the news, Khaitan tells mid-day, "I had cracked a great first half, but I botched things up in the second half. Since there is so much great material coming out [from the industry], I felt that if I don't have anything new to say, I shouldn't say it. So as of now, I have put the film on the backburner."