UAE-based businessman B.R. Shetty announced that Malayalam film Randamoozham, touted to be the most expensive film made in India, has been shelved. The film, directed by V.K. Srikumar Menon, was planned on a budget of Rs 1,000 crore. Shetty said he was backing out of the project because of the issues between Menon and writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair.
“I am still looking for a good scriptwriter. I will still make it (film on Mahabharata). My commitment is still there. Just as a true Indian, I am making the film to spread our history worldwide in all the languages (sic),” he told the media.
Randamoozham, a mythological drama, was based on Vasudevan Nair's award-winning novel by the same name. It is a version of the Mahabharata from the perspective of epic hero Bheema. Vasudevan Nair had revealed to media that he was quitting the project as his contract for the screenplay had overshot the three-year deadline for completing the film. Menon had reasoned that the project was delayed due to several international contracts and financial planning.