Mohanlal to play Bheem in 'Mahabharata' film! WATCH what he has to say

Pic Courtesy: Movie Still

New Delhi: India's biggest production based on an equally massive scale epic 'Mahabharata' has been announced and we can't keep calm ( literally). Although we are aware of what happens when and how in the Indian epic, the retelling of 'Mahabharata' the film is special because this time it is based on noted writer MT Vasudevan Nair's critically acclaimed novel Randaamoozham.

Veteran actor Mohanlal has been roped in to play the central character of Bheem in the film. The legend of an actor took to Facebook and in a small video clip expressed his happiness on featuring in a huge film like ' The Mahabharata'. In the video, he even said, “It is a privilege that I am playing the role of Bheem.” Interestingly,  writer Vasudeva Nair's Randaamoozham tells the story of Mahabharata through the perspective of Bheem. 

Interestingly, a UAE-based Indian businessman is investing Rs 1,000 crore (USD 150 million) in the magnum opus, reports PTI. The large-scale production will be directed by noted adman and advertising filmmaker V A Shrikumar Menon.

According to PTI, the film will be produced in two parts and is scheduled to go on the floors by September 2018 for a release in early 2020. The second part will be released within 90 days of the first.

"The film will be shot primarily in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu and will be dubbed into major Indian languages and leading foreign languages," a release from a company owned by serial entrepreneur and billionaire B R RPT B R Shetty, who is backing the film, said.

It said Shetty has been a keen supporter of Indian arts and culture for over many decades. It remains almost impossible to narrate The Mahabharata on the big screen except by adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair's Jnanpeeth Award-winning novel 'Randamoozham'(The Second Turn), which narrates the epic through the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas.

"The screenplay is written by the writer himself, who holds a record of maximum national awards for screenwriting in the history of Indian cinema," the release said.

Shrikumar Menon, Director, who has been living the script and researching for this project for the past few years, said "We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry with this initiative."

(With PTI inputs)