Marudhanayagam
Marudhanayagam is a longdelayed high budget Indian historical fiction film directed and produced by Kamal Haasan. The film, which started in October 1997 with an exclusive launch by Queen Elizabeth II, originally pulled together several prominent names across Indian cinema as its principal cast and crew. However since the launch, the film despite rumours of resurfacing, is yet to resume its shoot.
The producers and Kamal Haasan managed to rope in Queen Elizabeth II to appear as the chief guest at the launch of the project which took place in the MGR Film City onOctober 1997. The Queen had spentminutes on the sets of the film, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, politicians S. Jaipal Reddy and G. K. Moopanar, maverick journalist Cho Ramaswamy and veteran actors Sivaji Ganesan and Amrish Puri also in attendance. A teaser was shown at the launch, with a pilot video consisting of a battle scene which would feature for a few minutes in the film, with the production of the particular scene costing Kamal Hassan 1.5 crores alone. In November 1997, it was reported that the film would cost almost 85 crore to make equivalent of 500 crore in 2015 prices and would subsequently become the most expensive Indian film production till then The music for the trailer of the film was composed by Karthik Raja in late 1997, when Kamal Haasan and he were working together in Kaathala Kaathala.The original cast included Vishnuvardhan who played Wajid Khan with Nassar, Om Puri, Amrish Puri also given pivotal roles. Om Puri pulled out of the film in mid1998 due to prior commitments and Sathyaraj replaced him in the film. When the film was postponed, the team were still waiting to hear back from actors Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth who were approached to play guest roles. Kate Winslet was offered the lead female role of Marsha, but her rejection led to the makers casting a French debutant. Actor Pasupathy, who has since gone on to appear in successful films, was set to make his debut with the film in the role of an antagonist and had shot for five days. Furthermore, actordirector R. C. Sakthi was signed on to essay a supporting role. ........
Source: Wikipedia
