'Dasavatharam' overshoots budget to Rs.1.3 billion

Chennai, April 29 (IANS) Kamal Haasan starrer 'Dasavatharam' has overshot its Rs.1.3 billion budget and becomes the costliest Indian film to be ever made, said sources.

'Friday's much hyped trip of Jackie Chan to Chennai on a chartered flight had cost Rs.100 million to the producer and has added to the total cost that has now gone beyond Rs.1.4 billion, said sources close to producer 'Oscar' Ravichandran.

The producer, however, is not said to be complaining.

'Since top stars from Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Mallika Sherawat were present, the worldwide publicity generated has contributed more to the movie's Hindi release than what we actually ended up spending,' the source added.

Unfortunately, there was chaos at the film's audio launch function last week in Chennai. Dozens of people, including journalists, were injured when police cane-charged frenzied crowds at the star-studded event.

'Any news is good news. Despite spending all this money, there were no pictures of our shy producer Ravichandran. And there is no mention of his apologising to anyone anywhere,' said a publicist associated with the film, referring to the mismanagement of the audio release function.