UAE-based billionaire to make Rs 1,000-cr adaptation of Mahabharata

Pharma bigwig B R Shetty has said that the film will star actors from Bollywood and Hollywood

UAE-based billionaire B R Shetty will invest Rs 1,000 crore ($150 million) to produce a two-part film 'Mahabharata', surpassing even the upcoming Rajinikanth-starrer Robot 2.0 which drew an investment of Rs 350 crore. If made, it will be the most expensive Indian film to hit the screens.

The film will be directed by ad filmmaker V A Shrikumar Menon and is scheduled to be released in early 2020, with the second part coming out 90 days after the first. The huge investment will go in recruiting a team of some of the best technicians, both from Indian as well as global cinema, including some academy award winners.

"I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. I am confident that this film will be adapted in over 100 languages and reach over 3 billion people across the world," said B R Shetty, founder and chairman of UAE Exchange and NMC Healthcare.

Shetty, a native of Udupi in Karnataka, built a pharmaceutical empire in the Gulf, which has helped him being ranked among the 100 richest Indians by Forbes.

While the main cast for the film has not been announced, a statement from Shetty's office said that it would include big names both from Indian cinema as well as Hollywood. The film Mahabharata will be an adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair's Jnanpeeth Award winning novel Randamoozham, which is a narrative of the Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima.

Nair has also written the screenplay for the upcoming movie.

"We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry, with this initiative," said Menon.

The film will be shot primarily in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. It will also be dubbed in major Indian languages and leading foreign languages.