It was meant to be the mother-of-all-special-effects films. Dragon was going to be producer Karan Johar and director Ayan Mukerji’s answer to Hollywood’s big-ticket super-hero films.

The film’s leading man Ranbir Kapoor was excited for many reasons. When Ranbir’s best friend decides to write and direct one, it was supposed to be special.

Or so it seemed.

Until the star-director-dost-pair met the internationally celebrated Israeli martial arts specialist Ido Portal in London for the action  scenes in Dragon. Apparently the cost quoted for the ambitious special effects (which Ayan and Ranbir were aiming for) sent them staggering back to India.

“This was like back to square one for the team. Producer Karan Johar has taken the film back to the drawing board to figure out the budget vis-a-vis international technicians. Also, the fact that Indian super-hero films like The Flying Jatt (with Tiger Shroff) have bombed, has tilted the scales towards a no-go for Dragon,” reveals a source close to Karan Johar.

At the moment, the official status for the film is “delayed”. It was meant to start in July. Then it went to the end of the year. Now…no one knows! It is a pity, since both Ranbir and Alia Bhatt were paired together for the first time in Dragon.

Currently, Ranbir has only Jagga Jasoos in hand. Alia has also not signed up for any other film after the success of Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, except Dragon, which was expected to take a large chunk of her time this year.

The film was also going to bring Ranbir and Amitabh Bachchan together for the first time. Amitabh has often expressed  a wish to work with Ranbir. Seems like his wish will have to wait as well.