Ambitious Ashwatthama Project Falls Through

Shahid Kapoor’s mega mythological project Ashwatthama has been shelved. Producers are unwilling to back the big-budget film, given that the actor’s last three films — Deva, O’Romeo and Cocktail 2 — have underperformed at the box office.

Reservations about budget were compounded by the Kalki 2898 AD effect. The massive success and creative choices of Prabhas’ film forced producer Bhagnani to fundamentally reassess Ashwatthama.

In Kalki 2898 AD, Amitabh Bachchan delivered a widely acclaimed performance as the immortal Ashwatthama. There was seamlessly blending of high-tech visual effects with ancient mythology. As the character of Ashwatthama has already been presented on an incredibly grand scale, Shahid’s version, it was felt, could offer no fresh cinematic experience.

The movie was envisioned as a global action epic with an initial budget exceeding Rs500 crore. As logistics for shooting across multiple countries were ironed out, costs escalated beyond viable limits. Following several big-ticket theatrical failures in Bollywood, production partners like Amazon Studios and Pooja Entertainment turned cautious about green-lighting high-risk, mega-budget films, leading to the project falling through.

Shahid Kapoor is not the first actor whose movie on this mythological figure has collapsed. Earlier, director Aditya Dhar attempted to mount a futuristic epic titled The Immortal Ashwatthama starring Vicky Kaushal, but it was shelved due to unsustainable VFX budget requirements.