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EXCLUSIVE: Salman Khan and Atlee’s collaboration on back burner due to Rajinikanth’s date conflict & not budget issues
Pinkvilla has exclusively learned that Salman Khan and Atlee's collaboration has been put on hold due to Rajinikanth's date conflicts.
Over the last one year, Pinkvilla has been a constant to give updates on director Atlee’s next after Jawan. We were the first to inform our readers that Atlee is in advanced talks with Salman Khan for a mega budget two hero film with Sun Pictures as the producer. Soon after, we also reported that Atlee and Sun Pictures are looking to cast either of Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan to play the parallel lead in the film. It was Pinkvilla who also exclusively informed the readers that Atlee’s next is a reincarnation based period drama on the lines of Game of Thrones.
In a sudden turn of events, the film has now been put on a back burner leading to ample of speculations around the reason to go on hold. Our exclusive sources confirm, “A6 with Salman Khan was always planned as a Two Hero Project and the intent was to rope in two top names from the North and South to justify the mammoth budget of Rs 650 crore. While Salman Khan okayed the film, Atlee and Sun Pictures were confident to rope in either of Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth for the film. The conversations with both the giants of Tamil Cinema continued for over 6 months, but the things didn’t fall in place for multiple reasons.”
The source further shares, “While Kamal Haasan wasn’t too sure on playing the role of Salman Khan’s father in the film, Rajinikanth is committed to shoot for Coolie and Jailer 2 until the start of 2026. He is on the verge of green lighting another project post Jailer 2, which means his dates are blocked till 2026. After both the conversations fell through, Atlee and Sun Pictures were looking for options all across but couldn’t find an ideal replacement for Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan. They wanted to cast someone who can bring in big revenue from Digital and Satellite in the local language (eg. Rajinikanth / Kamal Haasan in Tamil), but the options of senior superstars with that market value was limited.”
As the casting for 2 hero was getting difficult, the makers even made an attempt to tweak the script a little and go international. “Conversations were initiated with Slyvestor Stallone to play the parallel lead, but the financials didn’t fall into place. The team is still exploring options of casting other international names and the process will take longer than usual due to complexities of contracts and other barriers. After all the attempts, Atlee, Salman and Sun Pictures have decided to team up in the near future, as some films are designed in a way to work out only as a collaboration between the two industries - Either North and South or India and Hollywood - and ambitious things often take time to materialize,” the source concludes.
With a cost of production of Rs 650 crore (Excluding Atlee fees & marketing cost), the union of North and South was a must to make a true blue Pan India film, as recoveries and profits would be possible only with South Market coming on board too, which will be possible with the inclusion of a superstar from Tamil or Telugu. Meanwhile, Atlee’s next will now feature Allu Arjun in the lead, and is a mega budget feature film designed for an ultimate cinematic experience. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates
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