It had been quite some time that Karma was announced. Helmed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, the film was to be produced by Ronnie Screwvala and had Shahid Kapoor in the titular role. However, now it is being reported that the film has undergone some major changes, including a change in the lead actor and the producer.
According to a report in Peepingmoon, both Shahid Kapoor and Ronnie Screwvala has backed out of the project. However, that has not caused any trouble for filmmaker Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, as now Farhan Akhtar has joined the film as a producer, and the hunt for the lead actor is on. The film is also now being developed to release I two parts. A source told the portal, “Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is making Karna as a two-part film. While he had earlier planned this project as a two-and-a-half-hour epic feature, the subject and characters are so vast and complicated that he believes one film cannot justify Karna’s story. Baahubali, KGF, and Pushpa’s success has further boosted the maker’s confidence to experiment with a multi-part format, and they are now developing the script accordingly. Mehra is writing this film along with veteran author Anand Neelakantan, who is known for writing mythological fiction based on Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bahubali.”
The source further added, “The makers are contemplating a big star to headline this project, and while they have pitched the film to 2-3 Bollywood stars, no one has come on board as yet. It’s an expensive and risky project, and might seem financially unfeasible at this moment given that Hindi films have not been performing well at the box office lately, the makers are hopeful that the situation will be better by the time they are ready to go into production.”
Earlier, Pinkvilla had reported that Vicky Kaushal is in talks to play Karna. A source was quoted by the portal saying, “The project is extremely close to Rakeysh’s heart and has been wanting to make a film on it for many years now. Vicky will play the titular role in this mythological-drama, which will be narrated from the perspective of Karna. Excel Entertainment will be producing the film and the trio are extremely excited to collaborate on this one. The movie is expected to roll by the end of this year, and Vicky will start with his prep closer to the shooting date.”
Well, we wonder who would be the perfect fit for the role. Any official announcement is being awaited.
