Ronnie Screwvala’s (on the right in the picture) The Immortal Ashwathama was one of the costliest films being planned in India. Aditya Dhar (in the centre in the photograph), who had debut-directed Uri – The Surgical Strike for Screwvala, was to helm the mythological with Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. Pre-production plans had been drawn up and a lot of planning was in progress on the visual effects and computer graphics in the film. This was before COVID-19 struck. Things slowed down because of that and RSVP’s most costly film-in-the-planning was no exception.
But the slowing down has given birth to rumours about the film having been shelved. A prestigious magazine has attributed the shelving to creative differences between the producers and Aditya Dhar. The truth is, the film has not been shelved. Since huge budgets are involved, it has only been delayed. Says Ronnie, “People write what they want, and it’s not even worth clarifying.” Explaining why the project has been postponed for the time being, Ronnie adds, “Ashwathama is a very ambitious project. In the last draft of the script, the ambition of the movie and the budget did not match, and the overall uncertainty, fuelled by COVID, did not help. So, all of us — Aditya, Vicky and I — decided that we need to put this back for another six to nine months. Sara (Ali Khan; the leading lady) agreed. We will have to work more on the budget and circle back when things look better overall for the magnum opus which Ashwathama is being planned as.”
On being asked whether he had spent Rs. 30 crore, as mentioned by the magazine which had proclaimed that the film had now been shelved, Screwvala replied, “I have zero idea where this ridiculous figure of Rs. 30 crore came from! We were four months away from shooting and so we have not spent anywhere even near it.”