Ashwathama trilogy in the making: Phantom Films plan a movie on the Mahabharat warrior

Phantom Films have bought the film rights for Krishna Udayasankar’s book - Immortal - and plan to turn it into a trilogy on Mahabharat warrior Ashwathama.

Anurag Kashyap’s production house, Phantom Films, has acquired the rights of Krishna Udayasankar’s book - Immortal from Hachette India.

Book cover of Krishna Udayasankar’s book, Immortal, which will be adapted for the trilogy.

The production house plans to develop the project as a trilogy on Ashwathama in a modern context. A story about a flawed hero, who cannot die but continues to suffer insurmountable pain as a consequence of it.

Immortal is the modern-day telling of the story of the legendary misunderstood warrior, Ashwathama, who having been given the curse of immortality by Krishna, has been roaming the earth for millennia in search of mortality. As a result, the story also (in a way) spans 4000 years.

A blend of history, myth, and fantasy, Immortal narrates the story of Professor Bharadvaj, who is unwittingly pulled into a hunt for the ‘vajra’, believed to have transmutative powers that can unlock the secrets of immortality.

Krishna Udayasankar has also written a three-part series on the Mahabharata, called The Aryavrata Chronicles.

Confirming the report, Phantom Films’ co-founder Madhu Mantena said in a press statement, “We are very proud to announce this magnificent project as a trilogy on Ashwathama in a modern context. It’s a very powerful story written beautifully by Krishna Udayasankar. The concept is something that has not been experienced on the big screen before and that too on such a huge scale. We are very excited to start this journey.”

More details on the project are awaited.

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