It was in May 2016 that Super 30, the film on Bihar mathematician Anand Kumar had been announced in Patna. Producers Vinay Sinha and Preeti Sinha had acquired the rights to the biopic under their banner, Reel Life Films. The film was to be produced by Sinha along with Phantom, with Queen director Vikas Bahl directing this inspiring tale, which was to be shot largely in Bihar.

That was then. Now news comes in that all is not hunky dory between the producers. Preeti Sinha has apparently decided to walk out of the project. Her father Vinay Sinha, who has produced the successful Salman-Aamir starrer Andaz Apna Apna, confirms that their company has exited the project. He claims that the film does not make commercial sense to them anymore. In a reference to Phantom’s quartet, he declared that they couldn’t work with “more than one director at the same time,” adding that Anand Kumar could put his life story on celluloid with whoever he pleased; they were definitely not doing Super 30.
Things are far from hunky dory between the Phantom filmmakers themselves. Ever since the alleged sex scandal involving Vikas Bahl broke in April this year, the directors have been a divided lot. Several instances of heated arguments have been reported between Anurag Kashyap and Vikas Bahl, with Madhu Mantena and Vikramaditya Motwane attempting to play peace-makers.

However, the key point of contention which led to Preeti Sinha walking out, appears to be the matter of casting. While the Sinhas were keen to have Akshay Kumar in the lead role, evidently Mantena was keener still on Hrithik Roshan. As parallel negotiations ensued with both stars, Mantena succeeded in getting Hrithik to sign on. Earlier this year, eyebrows were raised when it was reported that Mantena had landed up at Preeti’s building late at night and allegedly created a scene outside her flat. He was apparently desperate for Preeti to stay on in the project, as it was she who held the rights to making the film.
With Preeti’s exit, the project could be in peril again. Anand Kumar declares that he is aware that Preeti is not producing his biopic and that it is only Madhu Mantena now, as after his agreement with Preeti ended on August 12, 2017, she decided not to continue with it.

Will Hrithik Roshan be equally unfazed by the changed scenario? The actor is currently on board to play Anand Kumar, but some time ago he had backed out of the film over creative differences. Apparently Hrithik and Rakesh Roshan had insisted on changes in the screenplay as they felt the film was too documentary-like in its treatment. The issues had been ironed out… but with a fresh lot of creases cropping up, the biopic is proving to be tougher than cracking the very difficult IIT entrance exam!