For years, The Immortals of Meluha has remained one of those dream Bollywood projects that keeps returning to headlines but somehow never reaches the screen. Now, the bestselling mythology saga is back in the spotlight once again after fresh reports claimed Ranveer Singh was preparing to lead a massive adaptation based on the Shiva Trilogy. But before the rumours could spiral further, author Amish Tripathi has stepped in to clear the air himself.
The speculation exploded online after reports suggested Ranveer had acquired the rights to the trilogy and was planning to develop it as a grand cinematic franchise. Some reports even claimed the actor would play Lord Shiva and that the first film could begin production around 2028. Considering Ranveer’s recent blockbuster success with Dhurandhar: The Revenge, many fans instantly believed the news and started imagining the actor in a mythology-driven avatar.
However, Amish Tripathi has now completely rejected those claims. Speaking to Variety India, the author clarified that the rights to the Shiva Trilogy are still with him and no agreement has been signed with anyone. While praising Ranveer Singh and calling himself a fan of the actor, Amish made it very clear that the reports linking him to the project are not true.
What makes this situation interesting is that the adaptation itself is still very much alive in conversation. The Shiva Trilogy has spent more than a decade moving between studios, filmmakers, and streaming plans without ever officially entering production. Every few years, a new version gets announced, only to quietly disappear later during development.
Back in 2012, Karan Johar had acquired the rights through Dharma Productions with plans to turn the books into a large-scale feature film under director Karan Malhotra. At that time, there was massive excitement around the project because mythology-inspired fantasy films were still relatively uncommon in mainstream Bollywood.
But the adaptation eventually stalled amid industry concerns surrounding the depiction of Hindu gods on screen. Over the years, the project kept resurfacing in different forms. In 2022, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and creator Suparn Verma officially announced a web-series adaptation with producer Roy Price backing the project through International Arts Machine. That version also generated strong curiosity, especially because streaming platforms had started aggressively investing in mythology content around that time.
Still, even that ambitious adaptation failed to move forward, and according to current reports, the rights eventually returned to Amish Tripathi once again. That long development history has now made the Shiva Trilogy somewhat legendary inside Bollywood circles — a project everyone wants to make, but nobody has successfully mounted yet.
The popularity of the books is a major reason why interest around the adaptation never dies down. The Immortals of Meluha, followed by The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras, completely reimagines Lord Shiva as a human tribal leader from Tibet who slowly evolves into the legendary Neelkanth destined to save humanity. The books combine mythology, war, politics, fantasy, and philosophy in a way that feels tailor-made for large-scale cinematic storytelling.
At the same time, adapting a story of this scale is far from easy. A Shiva Trilogy project would require enormous visual effects work, detailed world-building, high budgets, and extremely careful handling of religious themes. That is one reason why multiple attempts over the years may have struggled to cross the development stage despite the books’ huge fanbase.
Meanwhile, Ranveer Singh’s immediate future appears focused elsewhere. After the historic performance of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the actor is reportedly preparing for Pralay, filmmaker Jai Mehta’s ambitious post-apocalyptic zombie thriller, which is expected to begin production later in 2026. Reports also suggest discussions are happening regarding another collaboration with Aditya Dhar, though nothing official has been announced yet.
For now, one thing is certain — despite endless rumours, Ranveer Singh is not playing Lord Shiva in The Immortals of Meluha. But the adaptation dream itself is clearly still alive, and Bollywood has definitely not stopped chasing the possibility of turning Amish Tripathi’s mythology universe into India’s next giant fantasy franchise.
