After
much
speculation,
debate
and
controversy,
the
film
Dream
Sequence,
to
be
produced
by
Ekta
Kapoor
and
directed
by
Vishal
Bhardwaj,
has
been
put
on
hold.
Says
a
source,
"Right
from
day
one,
Dream
Sequence
(Jaagte
Raho)
was
ridden
with
problems.
Initially,
Saif
Ali
Khan
and
Deepika
Padukone
were
to
play
the
lead
but
first
Saif
and
later
Deepika
distanced
themselves
from
the
project.
At
one
point,
Abhay
Deol
was
to
fill
in
for
Saif,
who
then
showed
a
renewed
interest
in
doing
the
part,
and
then
had
second
thoughts
for
the
second
time."
New
priority
While
the
hunt
for
the
cast
was
on,
Bhardwaj
was
offered
the
opportunity
to
direct
Shahrukh
Khan
in
the
film
adaption
of
Chetan
Bhagat's
Two
States,
and
that
became
the
priority,
as
the
director
has
never
made
a
comedy
before.
Ekta's
film
was
to
go
on
floors
first
but
Bhardwaj
gave
away
his
dates
to
SRK.
Says
an
insider,
"Saif
wanted
top
actresses
like
Kareena
Kapoor,
Deepika
Padukone,
Katrina
Kaif
or
Priyanka
Chopra
to
co-star
with
him,
so
Dream
Sequence
has
been
put
on
hold
for
some
time.
“Vishal
had
his
own
casting
issues
and
between
the
wish
list
and
permutation-combination
of
the
two
actresses,
the
chances
of
taking
the
film
to
the
floors
only
got
dimmer
as
time
passed.
Vishal
is
very
upset
with
Saif
as
he
feels
it's
because
of
him
that
Dream
Sequence
has
been
put
on
hold."
Pehle
main!
Another
reason
for
the
film
not
taking
off,
is
that
it
is
very
similar
to
Inception,
even
though
Vishal
swears
he
had
written
his
story
before
Christopher
Nolan
made
his
Hollywood
hit.
Adds
the
source,
"And
to
top
it
all,
the
film
was
becoming
too
expensive
and
the
project
wasn't
seeming
commercially
viable.
Balaji
Motion
Pictures
is
a
conservative
company
and
they
weren't
sure
if
they
could
risk
an
experimental
film
with
a
big
star
at
a
big
cost,
and
so
Ekta
has
now
postponed
the
film
indefinitely."
While
the
shooting
of
Two
States
begins
in
May,
Ekta
will
start
another
film
in
March
with
Vishal's
assistant
at
the
helm.
Bhardwaj
and
Saif
Ali
Khan
remained
unavailable
for
comment.