Vanvas can wait

Ranbir Kapoor

The change of production hands on Nitesh Tiwari's directorial venture, based on the Ramayana, hasn't particularly cleared obstacles in the filmmaking process. Following previous co-producer Madhu Mantena's departure, it was supposed that the film would find a new direction; however, Mantena has reportedly asked for a pause in the filming process until he is appropriately compensated.

A source reveals that the shoot of Tiwari's mythological offering has stalled after the copyright infringement case. "The shooting continued for a few days after the notice, but has been on hold since last week. The matter has to be resolved legally, and filming will only resume when a consensus on the matter is reached," says the source associated with the film, which, apart from Kapoor as Lord Ram, also stars Sunny Deol, Yash, and Sai Pallavi.

Nitesh Tiwari and Madhu Mantena

While work on the offering isn't currently underway, sources from the production house assert that the film has not been canned. Shooting, they say, is likely to commence in three weeks. "There are date-related issues that need to be addressed since Ranbir is expected to start [Sanjay Leela] Bhansali's project later this year, and Sunny will move on to filming Border 2. Shooting will be scheduled in such a way that their absence doesn't hamper the project. It will be shot in two parts, with the second edition eyeing a release date six months after the first part hits screens."

mid-day reached out to Tiwari, who did not respond till press time.