Dharma Gets Jittery,Adds Alia,Cuts Down On SOTY Budget?

If the truth be told, Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and their partner Fox Star Studios are jittery over the release of their splashy college romantic-musical Student Of The Year 2.

“Why should they not be jittery after the crippling blow that was dealt by the failure of Kalank?”argues a source close to Dharma

But then comes the surprising revelation. “Kalank has made Dharma all the more determined to make a success out of Student Of The Year2. Naak kaa sawaal hai(it’s a matter of prestige). They are going all-out to ensure the film gets a big boxoffice boost,” says the source.

Apparently Alia Bhatt’s dance number with Tiger Shroff was an afterthought.

Admitting this, one of the prominent players in the project says, “I agree Alia came in at the last minute. They wanted a big star to dance with Tiger. The Alia-Tiger song and dance is a big boost to the film.As far as cutting marketing budgets is concerned , they(Dharma-Fox Star) have taken a voluntary decision to go slow on publicity during the last phase so as to not create an over expectation in the audience .There’s no budget cut as such.”

However this source admits that if SOTY2 under performs then the producers are in trouble.

“Fox has absorbed the losses of Kalank. But if SOTY 2 doesn’t work Fox-Star may have to re-negotiate with Dharma,” says the source.