Mumbai, Jan 13 (IANS): Actor Varun Dhawan, producer Karan Johar and director Shashank Khaitan are all set to collaborate again for a new comedy titled "Mr Lele". This is the third time the trio will unite, after "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania" (2014) and "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" (2017).

"Mr Lele", to be produced by Johar's banner Dharma Productions, will release on January 1, 2021.

"Humpty & Badri found their Dulhania & a happy ending... Now, time for another story spun with fun but this hero is not in search for his Dulhania! Third time will be lucky as @Varun_dvn & @ShashankKhaitan are coming together again! Stay tuned, thoda toh mazza "lele"!"

Dharma Productions tweeted on Monday morning.

Johar confirmed the re;ease date: "Just when you thought that the news couldn't get any better, it got more entertaining! #MrLele aka @Varun_dvn along with @ShashankKhaitan are going to start 2021 with a bang! Releasing 1st Jan, 2021.@apoorvamehta18 @DharmaMovies".

Meanwhile, Johar's mentioning the "Dulhania" series to announce "Mr Lele" seems to have confused fans. The average fan reaction on social media was that they cannot think of a third film in the series without Alia Bhatt in it.

"This better have Alia in it. We dont want another actress to replace her role if this is a sequel to Dulhania franchise," wrote a fan.

Another commented: "Dulhaniya series without Alia don't even want to think!"

Johar has maintained the "Dulhania" pitch right from the time he announced the film on Sunday. "The winning dulhania team are back with a maha entertainer with a dash of crazy!! Two close friends @ShashankKhaitan and @Varun_dvn come back with their third offering! We @DharmaMovies announce tomorrow! Watch this space!" went his first tweet about "Mr Lele".