Mumbai: Budget may not be the reason as was being speculated for postponement of the highly-anticipated Salman Khan and Atlee’s project.
“A6 with Salman Khan was always planned as a Two Hero Project and the intent was to rope in two top names from the North and South to justify the mammoth budget of Rs 650 crore. While Salman Khan okayed the film, Atlee and Sun Pictures were confident to rope in either of Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth for the film. The conversations with both the giants of Tamil Cinema continued for over 6 months, but the things didn’t fall in place for multiple reasons,” Pinkvilla reported, quoting the source.
The source further shared, “While Kamal Haasan wasn’t too sure on playing the role of Salman Khan’s father in the film, Rajinikanth is committed to shoot for Coolie and Jailer 2 until the start of 2026. He is on the verge of green lighting another project post Jailer 2, which means his dates are blocked till 2026. After both the conversations fell through, Atlee and Sun Pictures were looking for options all across but couldn’t find an ideal replacement for Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan. They wanted to cast someone who can bring in big revenue from Digital and Satellite in the local language (eg. Rajinikanth / Kamal Haasan in Tamil), but the options of senior superstars with that market value was limited.”
“Conversations were initiated with Slyvestor Stallone to play the parallel lead, but the financials didn’t fall into place. The team is still exploring options of casting other international names and the process will take longer than usual due to complexities of contracts and other barriers. After all the attempts, Atlee, Salman and Sun Pictures have decided to team up in the near future, as some films are designed in a way to work out only as a collaboration between the two industries – Either North and South or India and Hollywood – and ambitious things often take time to materialize,” the source concluded.
Earlier, during a promotional event, hinting at his upcoming project with Salman Khan, the director told Pinkvilla, “Definitely, I am going to surprise everyone with the casting… It’s going to be the proudest film of our country.”
Read more: Is Salman Khan & Atlee’s Much-Hyped Action-Drama With Rs 500 Cr Budget Shelved?
Meanwhile, Atlee’s next is a mega budget feature film starring Allu Arjun in the lead.
