The highly anticipated project “The Immortal Ashwatthama,” which was initially announced by producer Ronnie Screwvala with hopes of director Aditya Dhar creating another modestly-budgeted epic, has unfortunately been shelved. Despite its ambitious vision and a budget of nearly 200 crores, the film has fallen victim to its own grand aspirations.
After successfully delivering the war epic “Uri,” which had the visual appeal of a much more expensive production, producer Ronnie Screwvala was confident that Aditya Dhar could achieve similar results with “The Immortal Ashwatthama” on a modest budget. However, following the massive success of “Uri,” the project encountered significant obstacles and ultimately met an unfortunate fate.
A reliable source reveals some surprising details, stating, “Director Aditya Dhar managed to create the war epic ‘Uri’ with a mere budget of 25 crores, even though it appeared to be a film with a budget of 100 crores. This is because Aditya believes in the less-is-more approach to filmmaking.” Aditya Dhar himself explained in a previous interview, “We worked under extremely tight budgetary circumstances in ‘Uri,’ and that proved to be beneficial. It kept us on our toes, always on edge. I believe that anxiety is a driving force for productivity and creativity. I fear that unlimited budgets would make me complacent as a filmmaker. I prefer to work within controlled budgets. My goal as a filmmaker is to create a visually impressive film that appears far more spectacular than its actual budget. I’d like to spend 30 crores but make it look like a 150 crore film.”
Regarding “The Immortal Ashwatthama,” Aditya had shared, “It will be a completely different world compared to ‘Uri,’ but still rooted in reality. Yes, it is based on another true-life event. That’s all I can disclose for now. And, of course, I can confirm that my next film will also be produced by Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP production house. After seeing Ronnie’s unwavering support for ‘Uri’ alongside Vicky Kaushal, it would be foolish to change my priorities.”
However, it appears that despite the director’s impressive track record of making a 25 crore film look like a 100 crore film, and his determination to make a 30-crore film look like a 150 crore film, circumstances took a different turn. Ronnie Screwvala, not willing to risk further financial losses, made the difficult decision to shelve the project.
Eventually, Jio Studios stepped in to revive the project. However, they sought a lead actor with more prominence than Vicky Kaushal or Ranveer Singh. Aditya Dhar was keen on casting his “Uri” hero, Vicky Kaushal. Yet, when Jio Studios deemed it unsuitable, they explored the possibility of casting Ranveer Singh.
The lead role of the proposed film was declined by Allu Arjun, the superstar of “Pushpa,” upon learning about its troubled history.
“The Immortal Ashwatthama” turned out to be less immortal than anticipated, facing various challenges along the way that ultimately led to its unfortunate demise.