After several reports of getting shelved, the highly anticipated project titled 'The Immortal Ashwatthama' starring Vicky Kaushal is reportedly back on track. According to reports, Vicky Kaushal, who is at present busy shooting for the much-awaited Meghna Gulzar-directed, Sam Manekshaw biopic co-starring Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh, will be preparing for 'Ashwatthama' from February next year once he completes the current schedule. Apart from Vicky, the film will also see Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead. However, initially Sara Ali Khan was supposed to be essaying the lead character opposite Vicky.
Film to go on floor in 2023 summer?
Earlier, it was reported that the film, which is a brain-child' of director Aditya Dhar, wasshelved due to budget constraints. A source close to the development told Pinkvilla, "Vicky and Aditya share ample passion for The Immortal Ashwatthama. The film is like a dream they saw together, and hence Adi going ahead with the film without Vicky was never a question. There was some back and forth happening over the last few months on the budget and casting front, but the film is now all geared up to go on floors next summer."
The publication further reported the source as saying that the upcoming project will be a two-part film, that will be shot together. The source said, "It's an extremely costly film, but Aditya has big ambitions. He wants to take things to the next level and has worked very hard over the last three years to have all the source material in place. Even on the visual front, he has made a storyboard, which has impressed all the studio heads at Jio (the producers)."
The story of 'The Immortal Ashwatthama' isbased on the Indian epic Mahabharata butin a superhero format. If this really happens, then this film would mark the second collaboration of Vicky with Aditya after their National Award-winning film titled 'Uri: The Surgical Strike'.