OMG! Has Ranbir Kapoor s super-hero film been shelved?

It was meant to be the mother of all special effects films. Dragon was going to be producer Karan Johar and director Ayan Mukerjee s answer to Hollywood s big-ticket super-hero films. And its leading man Ranbir Kapoor was so excited about for many reasons. Every star worth anything wants to play a super-hero at least once in his career. And when Ranbir s best friend decides to write and direct one, it has got to be super-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 world-class 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- -vis international technicians. Also, the fact that the Indian super-hero films like The Flying Jatt (with Tiger Shroff) has bombed, has tilted the scales towards a no-go for Dragon, says a source close to Karan Johar.

At the moment the official status for Dragon is delayed . It was meant to start in July. Then it went to the end of the year. Now no one knows! Which is a pity for both Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt who have been paired together for the first time in Dragon.

The film was also going to bring Ranbir and Amitabh Bachchan together for the first time. Mr Bachchan has quite often expressed a wish to work with Ranbir. I guess his wish will have to wait.