Making Kesari with Karan Johar, not Salman Khan, says Akshay Kumar

Actor Akshay Kumar has said that he couldn't work with Salman Khan on Kesari, based on the Battle of Saragarhi, and now plans to make the film with Karan Johar instead.

Akshay was present at the launch of PVR Icon with Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures, on Thursday, 21 December.

It was earlier reported that Khan had teamed up with Johar as a co-producer for Kesari, which would have Akshay in the lead role.

Asked to comment on Khan backing out of project Kesari, Akshay said: "Yes, we couldn't do it. I am making the film with Karan Johar and that's it."

When asked about the film's progress, Akshay said, "The title has been finalized as Kesari. I will start working on the film in January 2018. We will be continuously shooting for it after the release of Pad Man."

Kesari is due to be released on Holi 2019.

Asked about Pad Man clashing with Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary at the box office on 26 January 2018, Akshay said, "Both the films are absolutely different from each other. Neeraj Pandey (director) is a dear friend. And, yes, this word ‘clash' has actually come from the media. We have no problem in releasing films. There are around 4,000-5,000 screens in India and my film is screened in 2,800 screens. I think it's fair enough."