KOCHI: Industrialist and UAE-based businessman B R Shetty has said he will produce a movie based on the epic Mahabharata.
However, the story will not be based on the script penned by M T Vasudevan Nair on the basis of Nair’s novel Randamoozham, Shetty said.
Shetty had previously announced a big budget adaptation of Nair’s novel, which recounts Mahabharatha from the eyes of Bheema. The previous movie was to be directed by advertisement filmmaker V A Shrikumar Menon.
“I will produce a movie on Mahabharatha. It is my dream project,” Shetty told Express. On whether he will be continuing with the script by Nair, Shetty replied in the negative.
“I won’t be joining with MT again as he has already gone to court demanding his script back. I cannot court controversies by producing a movie on that script,” he said.
Shetty said the shooting for the new Mahabharatha project will kick off from March next year and the film is expected to be released across the globe by 2020.
The Padma Shri awardee said the director might be changed and he is not particular about a specific person directing the movie.
“I can make the movie for Rs 1,000 crore, maybe lesser, or go twice as high. I need to bring out Mahabharatha as a movie. It will be filmed to be remembered on all aspects which does not lose any key elements from the epic,” he said. Shetty said the movie will be made in Malayalam, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil.
“It will also be dubbed into other major Indian languages and foreign languages as announced earlier,” he said.
“It should be remembered for its craft and the manner in which the story is told without any addition or subtraction. Top actors from India and abroad will be roped in. Technicians who have made their mark in the industry will also be brought on board,” he said.