Suniel Shetty Says He Was 'Signed' For Aditya Dhar's Shelved Film The Immortal Ashwatthama

Recently, actor Suniel Shetty revealed that he was expected to play a role in Aditya Dhar's now-shelved film The Immortal Ashwatthama.

Aditya Dhar's film Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh, performed strongly at the box office after its release in December last year. In a recent interview with Lehren Retro, Suniel Shetty praised the film and said he wished he had been part of the project.

During the interview, Suniel Shetty also revealed that he had a role in Aditya Dhar's The Immortal Ashwatthama, which was to feature Vicky Kaushal in the lead. However, the project was eventually shelved.

What Suniel Shetty Said

Speaking to Lehren Retro, Suniel Shetty said, "I was to play a role in Aditya's Ashwatthama. So it got shelved, signing ho gaya, sab kuch ho gaya. So maine jab Dhurandhar dekhi, I said, 'I wish I could be a part of it'." (When I watched Dhurandhar, I wished I could have been a part of it.)

Suniel Shetty praised Dhurandhar director Aditya Dhar and lead star Ranveer Singh, saying, "Everyone thought Akshaye Khanna was excellent, but I felt Aditya Dhar and Ranveer Singh were even better. The audience can see that Akshaye's character is played in a larger-than-life manner - he has the background score and everything working in his favour. Ranveer, on the other hand, has none of that, yet he still shines. How? He built the character himself - through his physical structure, his look, and especially through his eyes."

Further praising the film, Suniel Shetty said, "Today people question how a film can be three hours and forty minutes long, but Aditya Dhar understood the audience's pulse. He knew that post-pandemic, viewers are used to binge-watching. People sit for six to seven hours and watch an entire web series. So he essentially said, 'If you're watching a web series, watch it on the big screen—I'll give you a better experience.' And he gave that experience! But that's the conviction of a director. And he is brilliant the way he thinks."

The Immortal Ashwatthama was announced in 2020 with Vicky Kaushal set to play the lead role. However, the project was later put on hold and eventually shelved.

In 2024, filmmaker Aditya Dhar spoke about the film during the trailer launch of Article 370. He said the mythological superhero action film was "too big" for Indian cinema. Dhar added that the team realised it was "impossible to make it" due to budget limitations.

"We have put that on the back burner right now. I'll be honest, the kind of vision we all had for that, it was too big to work for Indian cinema. The kind of VFX quality we were looking at, nobody has even strived for it here," Dhar said.

Now, Aditya is gearing up for the release of Dhurandhar 2 which will hit the theatres on March 19. 

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