Mohanlal’s Randamoozham, which was left in a limbo after the backing out of scriptwriter MT Vasudevan Nair, and the subsequent exit of producer BR Shetty, has been partially revived now. Dr SK Narayanan has come forward to produce the epic film.
Jomon Puthanpurackal, a human rights activist, shared a photograph of the director and the producer and said that they had signed the agreement for the movie. The movie, originally rumoured to cost Rs. 1000 crore, will now be made at Rs. 1200 crore, said Jomon. There has not been an official confirmation from the part of the director or the actor.
Randamoozham, a 1984 novel written by MT Vasudevan Nair, is a retelling of Mahabharata from the perspective of Bheema, the second of the Pandava siblings. Rumours about a cinematic version of the novel have been floating around for a long time. Initially, it was said that director Hariharan, who made the big-budget epic war drama Pazhassi Raja, will be directing the film. However, in 2016, it was reported that Sreekumar Menon will be helming Randamoozham.
Last year, MT Vasudevan Nair filed a petition in court asking that the rights to his script be returned. According to him, the undue delays in commencing the project had forced him to rethink his decision. Following this, Shreekumar Menon is believed to have met the writer to apprise him of the situation.
The director cited the reason for delay as his international commitments and the financial planning that went into the movie. In the mean time, however, he directed his debut feature film Odiyan. Last heard, Menon was planning to get the services of a moderator to help resolve the issue.
The director’s Odiyan, which released to much fanfare last year had elicited a mixed response. While certain sections of the audience liked the movie, a large majority took to social media to troll the movie and the director. Menon alleged that a paid gang was behind this.