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EXCLUSIVE: Ashwatthama suffers 30 crore loss– Casting journey from Vicky, Sara, Samantha, Ranveer, NTR & Yash
While Vicky Kaushal was dropped off the project, NTR Jr and Yash were not keen to do a superhero film. Ranveer Singh on the other hand was confused between Shaktimaan and Ashwatthama. Details
Post the release of URI in 2019, Aditya Dhar has been working day and night on his ambitious superhero film, The Immortal Ashwatthama. Back in the day, the film was announced with Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan in the lead, with Ronnie Screwvala bankrolling the project. However, the pandemic struck in 2020 and that led to the film being delayed. As things hit the normalcy, the makers decided to replace Sara Ali Khan with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who just left a mark nationally with her performance in The Family Man.
When Jio Studios took over The Immortal Ashwattama from Ronnie Screwvala
With films not doing well at the box office, producer Ronnie Screwvala decided to take a backseat from the film. However, director Aditya Dhar was keen to make it and took the project to multiple producers in the market, before finally getting Jio on board to bankroll it. The only condition that Jio had for The Immortal Ashwatthama was to change the leading hero, Vicky Kaushal, as he didn’t have the market to carry an expensive film like Ashwatthama on his shoulders. After some hesitation, Dhar gave up on the idea of casting Vicky.
“Jio felt Vicky Kaushal can’t carry a film as expensive as The Immortal Ashwatthama as the film warrants the presence of a star and not an actor. Samantha on the other hand had to back off from the project leaving the subject without any sort of cast. Once Jio came on board, Aditya Dhar decided to go ambitious with his casting,” revealed a source close to the development.
When Aditya Dhar decided to approach NTR Jr, Yash and Ranveer Singh
With Pan India cinema being in the forefront at the moment, Aditya Dhar approached NTR Jr. to lead his film, however, the actor was not too keen on the subject. The same idea then went to Yash, who again refused to be a part of the film as superhero wasn’t really a genre, he was willing to explore. The film finally went to Ranveer Singh, who showed interest, however, had to make a choice between The Immortal Ashwatthama and Shaktimaan. The later is of-course a bigger IP, but the team is working day and night on the script.
“For Ranveer, it’s about the script. While he is excited to play Shaktimaan, the team of the film is yet to crack a screenplay. He had not said a no to The Immortal Ashwatthama, but it was not a yes either. Eventually, Jio decided to shelve the film thinking that the budget recovery is not possible,” the source added.
With this, there is a loss of approx. 30 crore on The Immortal Ashwatthama. “The pre-production work has been going on for the last 3 years. Ample of monies have been spent on recce, pre-visualisation as also the story board. But all of it will be wiped off as the stakeholders believe that taking a hit of Rs 30 crore is better than investing 300 to 350 crore on the project in the long run,” the source concluded.
Aditya Dhar will now move on to some other film with the hope of revisiting The Immortal Ashwatthama once the market reaches normalcy. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
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