MT Vasudevan Nair has moved a court to withdraw his script from The Mahabharata project.

Acclaimed writer MT Vasudevan Nair seems to be in no mood to reconsider his stance on the ambitious project, The Mahabharata/Randamoozham. A Kozhikode court was told on Wednesday that the novelist was unwilling to hold further discussions to allow his screenplay to be made into a movie. The first class additional Munsiff court in Kozhikode has postponed the next hearing to November 13.

Director Srikumar Menon had requested the court to facilitate a mediation between the filmmakers and MT to resolve the controversy amicably. However, MT has conveyed the court that he has already made up his mind and he wants to withdraw his screenplay from India’s costliest project.

The pre-production work of The Mahabharata/Randamoozham suffered a setback when its writer quit the project recently. He said he was unhappy with the filmmakers for not starting the project on time. He noted his contract with the filmmakers was for three years but even after four years the project was yet to go on the floors.

UAE businessman BR Shetty, who has come forward to bankroll the Rs 1000-crore two-part mythological movie, said the project on the epic Mahabharata will happen without MT’s script. “I don’t care whose screenplay it is. That’s not my matter. My aim is to present the epic story of Mahabharatham before the world. I consider it as my duty as a true Indian,” the Dubai-based billionaire told Mathrubhumi.

Srikumar is also apparently exploring other options to make the movie happen. Earlier, the director had said that he will start shooting the film from July next year. However, his relationship with MT went sour putting the mega-budget project in limbo.

The Mahabharata/Randamoozham was announced last year. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was supposed to play the lead role of Bheema, the central character of the screenplay, based on renowned MT’s award-winning novel Randamoozham.