SpotboyE has learnt that the Sudhir Mishra-helmed project, which was to commence shooting in Lucknow two years ago, has been stalled 'indefinitely' and is not likely to get off the ground, unless there is a dramatic change in the cast.
Big B, say sources, stipulated far too many financial dos and don'ts which made the project unviable for the filmmaker. The movie's dialogue was being penned by actor Saurabh Shukla.
Chitrangada, who was supposed to play the title role, also opted out after her fallout with Mishra.
The story is said to revolve between two friends who turn foes in their youth,upon falling in love with the same woman.Cut to 25 years later and the conflict over Mehrunnisa continues to simmer between the two, who are no longer on talking terms.
At one point, it had been conjectured that Abhishek Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor would play the younger versions of their real-life fathers. A lavish set had been planned in Lucknow, a city which Mishra has been familiar with since childhood.
Reportedly, the title Mehrunnisa was altered to Pehle Aap Janaab during the pre-production stage. Workshops were scheduled so that the two senior actors would feel, according to Mishra, "comfortable about being uncomfortable with each other.".
Seems, both Amitabh and Rishi were gung-ho about the project till financial negotiations with the former reached a stalemate.
If all had gone well, Amitabh and Rishi would have come together on screen after more than two decades -- they last appeared together in the Shashi Kapoor-directed Ajooba (1991).
Among the popular films they had shared screen space in, audiences still nurse fond memories of Yash Chopra's Kabhi Kabhie and Manmohan Desai's Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Naseeb (1981) and Coolie (1983).
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