The Immortal Ashwatthama is suffering a loss of 30 crores just over this casting fiasco. The film has been going door to door with the actors and getting disappointed, resulting in being a significant factor in the financial loss. It finally saw a ray of hope when Ranveer Singh showed his interest in it after Jr NTR and Yash rejected it. However, Ranveer is also beamed up to play Shaktiman, and amidst it all, the Aditya Dhar film hangs in the middle, with full of uncertainty.
A source revealed “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 further added, “The pre-production work has been going on for the last 3 years. Ample of monies have been spent on the recce, pre-visualisation as also the storyboard. 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.”
Speaking about The Immortal Ashwatthama being revived by Jio Studios after Ronny Screwvala took a back seat, the source said, “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.” They came on board with the condition that Vicky shouldn’t be cast as the lead in it.
