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With his directorial debut Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), birthday boy Aditya Dhar showed that he had the sense to mount a film on a grand scale. This film has both him and the lead actor, Vicky Kaushal, taking home National Awards. For his second venture, Dhar has turned to a more ambitious subject. He hopes to tell the story of the mythological character Ashwatthama with The Immortal Ashwatthama.
Aditya Dhar, who is currently developing the script, reveals that The Immortal Ashwatthama will be made as a trilogy. Explains Dhar,
“We are planning to make it in three parts. For now, we are concentrating on the first part because [making] that is such a huge task. If we perfect that, the second and third [editions] will be made,”
Talking about the character Dhar says, that while the Mahabharat has offered several revered heroes, his fascination for Ashwatthama stems from the character’s imperfections like arrogance, ego and a temperamental personality. Ashwatthama is the son of Dronacharya who was given the boon of immortality.
He says,
“As a character, Ashwatthama was flawed. He was arrogant, egoistic and temperamental. That made him more human than every other character [in the epic],” he analyses, adding that the project will be mounted on a lavish budget. “We don’t want to compromise on the scale. We want to make a superhero film and hopefully, achieve what Marvel is doing globally.”
Talking ahead, Aditya believes that his second collaboration will Vicky Kaushal will not only test their talent but also their commitment to the craft.
“Vicky will need to gain weight, he has to weigh close to 115 kilos for the part. Besides his physical transformation, he will have to pick up various martial arts, sword fighting, and archery. Luckily, he is learning horse-riding for Takht, so that will come handy in our film.”
The Immortal Ashwatthama is expected to go on floors by the end of 2020.
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