Just months before the release of her maiden production, Chhapaak, Deepika Padukone announced that she would be partnering with Madhu Mantena to produce and bring to spectacle a chapter from the Indian epic, Mahabharata. The actress also confirmed that she would play the titular role of Draupadi in the film. There were speculations in the trade that the film is based on the novel, Palace of Illusions, which narrated the epic from Draupadi’s point of view.Now, the latest buzz in the market is that the much spoken about epic has been put on hold. “They announced the film because everyone was excited about bringing something as fascinating and iconic as Mahabharata on the big screen, however, over the last 2 years, they have not been able to lock on a director. The team explored several big names, but couldn’t align to the vision of any. One of the many directors in the race to direct Draupadi was Vishal Bharadwaj, but things fell through. After all these years, buzz is, the film is finally put on hold for the time being and will be revived at a later time frame,” a trade source told Bollywood Hungama about the conversations in the industry. Deepika has also switched her focus from Mahabharata to smaller films like Shakun Batra’s next and The Intern, as also the big superstar action spectacles like Pathan, Fighter and Prabhas’ next film with Nag Ashwin. She is also exploring other subjects to set a formidable line up, however, at this point of time; Draupadi is stagnant with no progress what-so-ever. “They are still keen to make it and will certainly revive it at the right time, on getting the right director. It’s an ambitious film, and requires a certain kind of command over the craft as bringing an epic to the screen is a big responsibility.”
