In March, Amazon Prime Video had announced the mythological action film, Ashwatthama: The Saga Continues, with much fanfare at its event. The Shahid Kapoor-starrer, to be helmed by Kannada filmmaker Sachin B Ravi, was designed to be one of the streaming giant’s most ambitious productions from India. However, eight months on, we’ve heard that the project has been put on hold due to budget constraints and logistical challenges. 

Sources close to Ashwatthama, which was being produced by Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment along with Amazon Studios, reveal that its budget was initially pegged at over Rs 500 crore. Apparently, the budget began to balloon as pre-production progressed. An insider from the production team shared, “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.”