UAE-based Indian billionaire BR Shetty, who announced in April this year to invest USD150 million (Rs 1,000 crore) on the making of epic Mahabharata, said that he expects to make USD1 billion (approx. 6,700 crore) in revenue from his mega project.
Shetty’s ‘Mahabharata’ is set to be India’s most expensive film with Rs 1,000 crore budget. And, he is planning to rope in world-class technicians to make this film on a mammoth scale. Despite this staggering budget and possible technical finesse, an Indian film raking in USD1 billion looks a distant dream, we can’t rue out the possibility though.
As of now, Dangal is the highest Indian grosser with a worldwide gross of 1800 crore. If Baahubali 2 performs well in China, where it is due for release in July, the Rajamouli directorial can go well past 2000 crore mark. The target of Shetty, which is about 7000 crore, is far higher than even the cumulative of Dangal and Baahubali 2.
Malayalam filmmaker VA Shrikumar Menon will direct ‘Mahabharata’ with Mohanlal essaying the pivotal character of Bheema. To be made as a two-part saga, Mahabharata will have six hours duration, as per the director. Regular filming will commence in May 2018, the first part will release in 2020 and the second will hit screens 100 days later.
To be shot across Au Dhabi, India and Sri Lanka, the film will be primarily made in three languages – Malayalam, English and Hindi, and later dubbed in all regional languages of India.
If the two-part Mahabharata can really collect USD1 billion as per the prediction of Shetty, it will truly be a defining moment for Indian cinema at global level. The film will have to appeal to Western audiences in order to achieve that.
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