Amitabh Bachchan is reportedly all set to play Lord Brahma in the upcoming film, Brahmastra. The film, directed by Ayan Mukerji, also stars Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor in the lead and is a fantasy film that marks the beginning of a trilogy. It is a film that we are eagerly waiting to watch, but thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a high possibility that Brahmastra won't be releasing the year-end as originally planned. Brahmastra: Here’s What Ayan Mukerji Did to Avoid Footages of Ranbir Kapoor – Alia Bhatt Starrer from Being Leaked.

While that is disappointing, we can have a throwback at the times when Big B had his own share of fantasy films. Like Ajooba, that was directed by the late Shashi Kapoor, which had him as a swashbuckling Zorro-like hero. Or Bollywood's own version of Aladdin, where Big B was the Genie himself.

But did you know there was also a movie where Amitabh Bachchan could have been the Indian version of Lord of the Rings' Gandalf The Grey? And we even had a trailer of the film where Amitabh Bachchan was seen riding a horse, leading an army into a war and attired in a impressive warrior getup with flowing white hair, special helmet and a magical sword!

That film was Talismaan, a movie that never got made. In fact, apart from this impressive trailer promo, Talismaan never made much headway into production.

Watch the Trailer below:

Talismaan was to produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Ram Madhvani, who later went on to make the critically acclaimed, Neerja with Sonam Kapoor in the lead. Talismaan was announced at the same time as Munna Bhai Chale Amerika, another VVC film that had a special promo cut with Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, but never went in to production. Thursday Throwback: When Ajay Devgn Played an Amnesiac Action Hero in Anees Bazmee’s Unreleased Thriller ‘Naam’ – Watch Leaked Trailer.

As the trailer suggests, Talismaan was inspired by Devaki Nandan Khatri's novel Chandrakanta, that had already inspired a popular television series by the same name on DD National. Amitabh Bachchan was to play a legendary warrior belonging to the Ayyar clan, belonging to Iraqi-Iranian descent during the 12th century. Apart from Big B's getup, what's fascinating is his usage of English in the promo, as his character screams, 'No War!'

Apart from Amitabh Bachchan, no other actor was cast in Talismaan, though names like Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai did rounds then.

So why was the movie shelved after that impressive announcement? Reports had it that after some very extensive writes and rewrites, Chopra, Madhvani and co-writer Swanand Kirkire weren't very happy with what they have. Also the burgeoning budget of the film made them think Talismaan won't be a very feasible idea, considering the movie was in the making during the recession period. The film was officially shelved in 2011.

What a shame! For four years later, a director from South named SS Rajamouli proved budgets shouldn't be a constraint when it comes to creating big dreams on screen, as he created history with the Baahubali films. And to think, Bollywood had the chance to do that, years earlier!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 07, 2020 07:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).