Aditya Dhar is riding high on the popularity of his mafia drama Dhurandhar, and justifiably so. In an otherwise disappointing year for Bollywood's tentpole releases, the film has emerged as a hit, collecting Rs 437.25 crore nett in India so far and is on track to join the coveted Rs 500 crore club shortly.
The success is especially noteworthy for its lead actor, Ranveer Singh, who had been written off by many following a spate of disappointing films.
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Dhurandhar has effectively re-established his status as a bankable star. Aditya Dhar, too, is relieved by the film's success, especially because his dream project, The Immortal Ashwatthama, was placed on hold a few years ago due to financial restrictions.
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From Uri to Bigger Dreams
Dhar made his Bollywood debut with Vicky Kaushal's Uri: The Surgical Strike, which grossed a whopping Rs 244.14 crore at the box office and proved to be a game changer for everybody concerned.
Buoyed by his success, the filmmaker decided to dream bigger, imagining a mythological superhero action film that would combine epic storytelling with never-before-seen world-building and visual effects.
The Immortal Ashwatthama was created as a retelling of Ashwatthama's journey from the Mahabharata, which follows his search for redemption and immortality.
Project Put on Hold
However, after the unveiling, the project fell quiet, causing much speculation. According to reports, Ronnie Screwvala dropped out of the picture, and Dhar began looking into collaborating with Jio Studios due to financial concerns.
There were also speculations that Vicky Kaushal had been asked to leave the production due to worries about his financial viability for such an expensive picture. Additionally, there were allegations that Sara Ali Khan was initially cast before being replaced by Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Aditya Dhar eventually put all doubt to rest by declaring that The Immortal Ashwatthama had been shelved.
Aditya Dhar Breaks Silence
Speaking during the trailer unveiling for Article 370, he stated, “We have put that on the back burner right now. To be honest, the vision we all had for that was too large for Indian cinema. Nobody has even tried to achieve the level of VFX quality we were going for here.”
He went on to say that unless technology became more affordable and cinema infrastructure expanded, the initiative would have to wait.
“For example, James Cameron thought of Avatar 27 years ago, but he waited for the market to grow. The tech had to come to that level where he could actually present it. I’m, of course, not him, but if we have to achieve excellence, there can’t be any mediocrity. I can’t make it for the heck of it. Even if it takes five years of my prime time, the film has to be brilliant.”