Efforts on to rope in Amitabh Bachchan as Bheeshma

Thiruvananthapuram: Discussions are on with megastar Amitabh Bachchan to rope him in for the role of ‘Bheeshma’ in the multi-lingual film ‘Randamoozham’, based on Jnanpith award winner M T Vasudevan Nair’s novel.

“Amitabh Bachchan has been contacted. Discussions are on,” said ace ad film maker and director of the film N A Shrikumar Menon.

“He is the most eligible actor for the role,” Shrikumar told PTI adding the actor was yet to confirm the role. Malayalam actor Mohanlal has been cast as ‘Bhima’, the lead character in the film. “We are going to get an ensemble cast from different languages,” Shrikumar said.

‘Randamoozham’ (The Second Turn), based on a 1984 novel by MT, is a retelling of the Indian epic Mahabharat from the perspective of Bhima, the second of the Pandava princes.

Shrikumar said the film will be in two parts with a budget of Rs 700 crore-Rs 800 crore, thus making it the most expensive film to be made.

It will be shot in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and English and dubbed in all Indian languages and some foreign languages.

Several academy award winning technicians will also be roped in for the film, shooting for which will begin by 2018 end.

It is expected to be released by 2019 end or 2020, he added.