VIP Passes, 5 crore promises, and 5 years of silence: The battle Of Bhima Koregaon remains in limbo - Is it officially shelved?

Over the last few years, the history behind the 1818 battle fought at Bhima Koregaon has intrigued not just history lovers but also the general public from all strata of society. A film based on this episode, titled The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon, was announced and was even partly shot nearly five years ago, in February-March 2020. The film was earlier scheduled to be released on September 17, 2021, and later in 2024. But there has been no update on the film since then and the murmurs in the industry is that the film has been shelved.

 

VIP Passes, 5 crore promises, and 5 years of silence: The battle Of Bhima Koregaon remains in limbo - Is it officially shelved?

 

The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon stars Arjun Rampal in the lead and he essays the role of Sidhnak Mahar, who, with the help of his army, bravely defeats the Peshwas in 1818. The other actors in this film include Digangana Suryavanshi, Govind Namdev, Milind Gunaji, Abhimanyu Singh, Krushna Abhishek and Yatin Karyekar. Sunny Leone also features in the film as a spy-cum-dancer. It is directed and produced by Ramesh Thete, an ex-IAS officer.

 

A source told us, “For the longest time, there has been no update about the film or its shoot. The actors in the film have also moved on and are working on other projects. Some junior artists or extras were paid in advance to shoot for the film. But their scenes were never shot.”

 

The source further continued, “There are films under production which get shelved and they might not get public attention as their assets were not unveiled. In the case of The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon, the makers had organized a grand event and later also unveiled the film’s posters and songs. Moreover, they also sold VIP passes worth Rs. 500 to thousands of people. As per the offer, a lucky winner will win a cash prize of Rs. 5 crores while five lucky winners will get prizes of Rs. 21 lakhs.”

 

In mid-2024, Bollywood Hungama contacted Ramesh Thete to ask for an update but he was unavailable. The director-producer used to run an active YouTube channel where he used to share updates about the film. He last posted a video on October 25, 2023, where he explained why the film’s shoot got stuck. In this 25-minute-long clip, he blamed late art director Nitin Desai for the delay. Ramesh revealed that though he paid Rs. 4 crores plus to Nitin Desai to shoot the film at N D Studios in Karjat near Mumbai, the art director didn’t allow him to shoot after Covid-related restrictions were lifted in 2020. As per Ramesh Thete, he only shot for 34 days though he had booked the place for 60 days.

 

In this video, he assured that the film will release anyhow in 2024 and asked all those who bought VIP passes to be patient. He further said that he planned to release The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon in 3000+ screens. 2024 has ended and 2025 has begun and sadly, there has been no update on this film whatsoever.

 

Also Read: From Rs. 5,380 cr. to Rs. 4,679 cr. and 16% drop in audience: What’s behind Hindi cinema’s Box Office decline in 2024?

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