The grapevine is abuzz that The 19th Step featuring Japanese superstar Tadanobu Asano, Kamal Haasan and Asin, directed by Bharat Bala and produced in association with Walt Disney productions has been tentatively put on the backburner.
There is nothing official about it as the producers, the director and the stars have never held a press conference or made an announcement officially in the media about this project. Yet, The 19th Step was all over the media — about Asin learning Kalaripayattu, the martial art of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, Tadanobu Asano spending time in Chennai going through the costumes made for the film and a photo shoot with the lead actors which never took place. However, director Bharat Bala, who was doing intense research on the subject along with the film’s writer M T Vasudevan Nair, kept a studied silence on the matter. Now, our sources in the industry have confirmed that the film has been put on hold. A source close to the development told CT, “Yes, the film has been tentatively put on hold, due to creative differences over the script between the director and one of the actors. There will not be any media briefing as the producer and the director have never officially announced the project.” The rumour mill has it that Kamal Haasan has declined the project due to various reasons. To be fair to Kamal, the actor has never said that he is a part of this project, as his forthcoming Unnaipol Oruvan was always the focus of his interest. Meanwhile, the latest we hear is that Vikram has been approached for the film by the director. A few days back, a meeting did take place between Vikram and Bharat Bala, where they discussed the issue of the star stepping in for the project and giving priority ‘tatkal dates’ as the shooting of the film was to start in the middle of August in Mongolia. Vikram to replace kamal? The rumour mill has it that Kamal Haasan has declined the project due to various reasons. To be fair to Kamal, the actor has never said that he is a part of this project, as his forthcoming Unnaipol Oruvan was always the focus of his interest. Meanwhile, the latest we hear is that Vikram has been approached for the film by the director. A few days back, a meeting did take place between Vikram and Bharat Bala, where they discussed the issue of the star stepping in for the project and giving priority ‘tatkal dates’ as the shooting of the film was to start in the middle of August in Mongolia. Vikram had heard the script from M T Vasudevan Nair a few years back, and was initially very keen to do the role of the ‘Asan’ or guru, who teaches Asin, a princess, the art of Kalaripayattu. The star was offered a price that was almost twice what he gets for doing a Tamil film. The film would have been his big ticket to international cinema as Walt Disney were the co-producers. As per our sources, Vikram is walking a tightrope over his earlier commitments. Mani Ratnam’s Raavan has been delayed, and it looks like a good chunk of the film is being re-shot after Santosh Sivan replaced Manikandan as the cameraman. Vikram has to immediately start work on producer Mohan Natarajan’s film with KS Ravikumar as the director, a project he had signed more than two years back. He also has another long-pending commitment with director Selva Raghavan and producer Ramesh to do a film. Till he completes these films, it looks like Hollywood has to wait! http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Regional-Stars/The-19th-Step-shelved/articleshow/4701668.cms Regards, Ram.. ICC World Twenty20 England '09 exclusively on YAHOO! CRICKET http://cricket.yahoo.com
