In March, mid-day reported that filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is set to helm a web series based on author Amish Tripathi’s The Immortals Of Meluha, the first book in the Shiva Trilogy (Another shot at screen immortality for Meluha, March 9).

Now, one hears that the team has begun the casting process. Kriti Sanon and Shraddha Kapoor are apparently in contention to play the female lead, Sati, the Meluhan princess and love interest of protagonist Shiva. 

Considering Sati plays a key role in Shiva’s journey, her casting is crucial to the series. A source reveals, “The makers have done elaborate meetings with Kriti as well as Shraddha over the past two months. Both actors have also done look tests. Their shoot schedules will have to be considered while deciding since the web series demands a bulk of dates. But most importantly, Sati’s casting will depend on who plays Shiva. The hunt for the male lead is underway.”

The series, which sees Suparn S Varma of The Family Man 2 fame serve as the showrunner and director, is the first project from International Art Machine. 

mid-day reached out to the production house, which remained unavailable till press time. 

DNA (July 27, 2017)

It’s been six months since his last film, Kaabil, released, but Hrithik Roshan is yet to announce his next. Although there are reports of him doing the biopic on mathematician Anand Kumar, Super 30 helmed by Vikas Bahl. Sources say that his papa Rakesh Roshan plans to release Krrish 4 next year in December, and doesn’t want his beta to start any new project, and concentrate on that. Vikas Bahl, in the meanwhile, is waiting for Hrithik’s nod and dates. Also, there are reports of him doing the adaptation of The Immortals Of Meluha, the rights of which have been bought by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Which film will Hrithik start first? For now that’s a mystery.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 14, 2017)

Following years and several rounds of A-list actors, including Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Tiger Shroff, walking in and out of Karan Johar’s Shhuddhi, a screen adaptation of Amish Tripathi’s bestselling book The Immortals of Meluha, the troubled film was duly shelved after all plans to resurrect it by way of a stellar cast came to naught. But recent reports suggest that the adaptation rights have changed hands, from KJo’s Dharma Productions to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s banner SLB Films. And now it has emerged that Hrithik Roshan, who is currently holidaying in the US with his boys, Hrehaan and Hridhaan, and ex-wife Sussanne Khan, has been approached to play Lord Shiva in the film.


The first book in Tripathi’s Shiva trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha, is followed by the Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras. It was first published in 2010 by the author’s agent after it was rejected by several publishing houses and went on to become a raging success. It is set in the land of Meluha and starts with the arrival of Lord Shiva. In the story, the Meluhans believe that he is their fabled saviour Neelkanth and Shiva decides to help them in their war against the Chandravanshis, who had joined forces with the cursed Nagas.

Meanwhile, Hrithik and Bhansali have previously collaborated on the filmmaker’s 2010 film, Guzaarish. When Mirror reached out to SLB, the filmmaker chose not to comment, while Amish Tripathi apologetically excused himself insisting he could speak about anything else but this. Let’s wait and watch if the trio finds themselves on the same page.

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; June 17, 2017)

The rights to Amish Tripathi’s bestseller, The Immortals Of Meluha, seem to have changed hands. It was rumoured that Karan Johar’s long-in-the-making project Shhuddhi was based on the book. However, with his production house unable to put together a film in time, KJo had to surrender the rights. Reliable sources inform us that Sanjay Leela Bhansali has now shown interest in turning the book into a film.

The novel that is set in the mystical land of Meluha traces the journey of Shiva. The Meluhans believe Shiva is Neelkanth, their saviour as the myth suggests. While the Melhuans battle it out with Chandravanshis and Nagas, Shiva begins his quest to find his real self.

When we reached out to Amish, he and his team refused to comment on the development.

In an earlier conversation, however, Amish had confirmed to mid-day that Karan no longer has the rights to the novel. A source informs, “His contract with Karan expired recently, so Dharma had to surrender the rights to the book.”

Despite repeated attempts, Bhansali, too, chose not to comment