The film that went belly up
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 24, 2014)

Mirror was the first to report (July 19) that Akshat Verma, who wrote Delhi Belly, is turning director with a dark comedy based in Mumbai. After working on the script for two years, Akshat had roped in Neil Bhoopalam and Kritika Kamra to play the lead pair.

Now, the studio producing the film has decided to scrap the project after deeming it financially unfeasible.

"The dates of the actors were finalised and the locations were locked. The shooting was to begin in December. However, at the last moment, the studio felt that the film doesn't justify the budget and the project was shelved," said a source in the film's unit.

When contacted, a spokesperson from UTV said: "We did like the script. But since the budget exceeded the amount initially agreed upon, we've decided not to proceed with the film."

Interestingly, this is the second film of Kritika Kamra's to go in cold storage. Previously, she was signed for Ekta Kapoor's Badtameez Dil, which was to be directed by Akshay Roy, but the project never took off.