Why was Ashwatthama Shelved?: Aditya Dar Reveals the Reason, Says “The Budget Was Too Big”

Aditya Dhar reveals budget constraints as reason for shelving The Immortal Ashwatthama, emphasizing the need for advanced VFX quality in Indian cinema.

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: February 09, 2024

Summary: During the trailer launch of “Article 370”, Aditya Dhar revealed the reason why Vicky Kaushal’s ‘Ashwatthama’ was shelved.

Recently during the trailer launch of Article 370, attended by the filmmaker Aditya Dhar and his wife (actor) Yami Gautam, Aditya revealed the reason on why “Ashwatthama” got shelved.

Earlier “Ashwatthama” was in the news, there were speculations that the film is in its pre-production phase and soon the shooting for the film will begin, but that never happened. The film was supposed to star Vicky Kaushal as the lead. After the success of “URI: The Surgical strike”, filmmaker Aditya Dhar wanted to make another huge success with Ashwatthama, but somehow the film didn’t move to the production phase.

Once when asked, Vicky Kaushal shared his disappointment about Ashwatthama being shelved, on the talk show “Koffee With Karan”, but didn’t specify the reason. But now the filmmaker Aditya Dhar himself revealed the reason during the trailer launch of Article 370.

He said, “We have put that on the back burner for now. I’ll be honest, the kind of vision we all had was too big to work for Indian cinema. The kind of VFX quality we were looking for, nobody has even strived for it here. Until technology becomes affordable or cinema halls increase, we might have to wait.”

Giving an example of US Filmmaker James Cameron, Aditya said, “Even he waited for the market to grow, for the technology to level up where he could actually present it. I'm not him, of course, 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 me five years of my time, the film has to be brilliant.”

Aditya Dhar has won the National Film Award for “Best Director” for the film “URI: The Surgical Strike”. Now he is all set to release his new movie “Article 370” directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, and stars his wife and actor Yami Gautam and Priyamani. During the same launch Yami Gautam also announced that she is pregnant.