Shahid Kapoor, last seen in Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya alongside Kriti Sanon in the lead, was set to play the role of the legendary immortal warrior Ashwatthama from the mythological epic Mahabharata in his upcoming film, Ashwatthama: The Saga Continues. However, according to reports, the movie has now been halted.

A source close to Ashwatthama told Mid-Day that the budget, which was initially set at over Rs 500 crore, began to increase as pre-production progressed. "The project’s scale was enormous. The idea was to create something that could rival international fantasy-action films. Ashwatthama was supposed to be shot across multiple countries. But as we began working out the logistics and coordinating shoots across international locations, it became clear that staying within budget would be a serious challenge. Pooja Entertainment’s debt became another big factor," added the source.

The source further revealed that Shahid had started his physical training for Ashwatthama, but now he will be be focusing on Vishal Bhardwaj’s film instead. "Given the current state of the market, studios are being cautious about green-lighting mega-budget films. A project like Ashwatthama comes with a lot of risk," said the source.

In March, Shahid had announced the movie on Instagram and wrote, “Myth and reality will blur, as past and present collide, when an ancient legend meets this modern marvel! This is the story of #AshwatthamaTheSagaContinues, the immortal warrior, a Magnum Opus you can not miss."

If Ashwatthama: The Saga Continues is made, it will be available for streaming on Prime Video after completing its theatrical run.

Earlier, Vicky Kaushal was roped in to play the lead in The Immortal Ashwatthama, which was earlier directed by Aditya Dhar; however, it was later shelved.

Dhar had earlier stated that the film was "too big" for Indian cinema, acknowledging that they knew it was "impossible to make it" given the budgeting constraints. "We have put that on the back burner right now. I’ll be honest, the kind of vision we all had for that was too big to work for Indian cinema. The kind of VFX quality we were looking at, nobody has even strived for it here," he shared.