Vicky Kaushal's Immortal Ashwatthama and other big Bollywood films that have been shelved or are facing uncertainty

The pandemic has been a testing time for Bollywood. Apart from producers holding onto their big-budget films which are ready for release for more than a year, there have also been several exciting projects which were announced before Covid-19 entered our lives and have not been able to take off since. While the news of Vicky Kaushal’s Immortal Ashwatthama getting shelved after two years of its announcement is doing the rounds, here’s looking at Bollywood films that were shelved or delayed indefinitely no thanks to the Covid-19 situation. 

Shelved

The Immortal Ashwatthama – Announced two years ago, The Immortal Ashwatthama starring Vicky Kaushal was to be a superhero action drama trilogy mounted on a huge scale helmed by Aditya Dhar who directed him in Uri: The Surgical Strike. While until recently all was well and the project was on cards, things changed suddenly for the project which is now touted to be shelved due to budget issues after already facing a delay due to the pandemic situation. Apart from Vicky, Sara Ali Khan was also a part of the film.

Mahabharat – For along a film based on the epic Mahabharat starring Aamir Khan was being called his ‘dream project’. While it was a movie when it was first envisioned, reports later came in that the project might be released as a web series. Earlier in March, news arrived that the project has been shelved as Aamir didn’t wish to devote two years to the making of a web series. Besides, the actor is yet to finish his film Laal Singh Chaddha which itself has been long delayed due to the pandemic.

Aankhen 2 – Admittedly, the pandemic is only partly at fault for this project getting shelved it was in the pipeline much longer than that. It was all set to happen with Amitabh Bachchan, Sidharth Malhotra, Akshaye Khanna, and Sunil Grover in the cast but was shelved after the Covid-19 situation made international shoots a nonpossibility. Filmmaker Abhinay Deo confirmed the same in an interview revealing Amitabh Bachchan had pulled out from the sequel of the 2002 film.

Her Pheri 3 – Again the pandemic, might have been the last push needed in shelving this project which had a lot of fans rooting for it. With two blockbuster films delivered more than a decade ago, this film starring Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and Suneil Shetty is definitely not happening now. According to reports Akshay wanted Dream Girl filmmaker Raaj Shandilya to direct it while he also allegedly asked for a 70% stake in the film's profits which the producers denied. The project has been doomed from the start and this is the third time it has been shelved after being revived.

Fate Uncertain

Ekkees - Sumit Raghavan helmed Ekkees starring Varun Dhawan was announced in 2019. The film was based on the life of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the youngest ever Param Vir Chakra awardee who was posthumously honoured for sacrificing his life during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. There has been no news about the film after the pandemic hit the nation and Varun has already shot for a few projects like Bhediya and Jug Jugg Jeeyo since.

Takht - Karan Johar’s ambitious Takht was delayed indefinitely after the pandemic made it difficult for this magnum opus to take off. The film was announced on be mounted on a grand scale and set in the Mughal era as the story of two princes at war Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh. The project also had an enviable cast including names like Bhumi Pednekar, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and Janhvi Kapoor. Karan instead decided to direct Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in a romantic comedy, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.

Dostana 2 – The film starring Janhvi Kapoor, Kartik Aaryan, Lakshya Lalwani was facing delays after the pandemic struck but hit a roadblock when Kartik and Dharma chief Karan Johar allegedly had a fallout. While Kartik had apparently shot for nearly 20 days for the film, after his departure Karan had announced that the film will be announced with a fresh cast but there have been no further updates on the project.

Farah Khan and Rohit Shetty’s untitled collaboration – What was for a long time speculated to be a remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer Satte Pe Satta, this project which had piqued a lot of curiosity ultimately never went on floors. While Farah said she wanted to wait out the Covid-19 situation, Rohit Shetty got busy with making Ckirus. This mysterious exciting collaboration remained just an announcement that sent social media in a tizzy back in 2019.

Chanakya – Ajay Devgn was announced to play Chanakya, one of the greatest thinkers in Indian history in a big-budget film in 2018. While the film certainly didn’t take off in 2019 due to Ajay’s packed schedule it has now been indefinitely delayed due to the pandemic. Manoj Muntashir, the writer of the film earlier in the year revealed that this Neeraj Pandey project is still very much happening while Ajay Devgn is busy taking on new projects and still has Thank God and his web series Rudra to get through apart from other sequels like Golmaal 5, Raid 2, Drishyam 2, Kaithi remake, the fates of which are also in the doldrums.