Abbas-Mustan not to make another film for Viacom 18

Mumbai: Due to the creative differences that cropped up while the making of Players between Abbas-Mustan and the production house, their plans for making a third movie together has been put on hold.

The first movie of the three-film agreement, Life Partner was directed by Rumi Jafri in 2009. However, the making of the third film was not committed on paper.

According to our source, "Abbas-Mustan narrated a couple of ideas to Vikram Malhotra, the head of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, for their third film with the corporate company. They verbally agreed to team again after Race 2, which the director duo was committed to make for Ramesh Taurani once they were through with Players."

Buzz is that their differences first started after the schedule in Russia, and they escalated only after the promos started playing on air. Our informer explains, "Firstly, the producers weren't too happy with the way the budget went up to R 60 crore. And then, Vikram Malhotra and company weren't too happy that the music had not caught on. Especially since it was expected that the directors would recreate the success of Race with Pritam. The producer tried to salvage the situation by trying to get Himesh Reshammiya to compose a couple of tracks. The directors not only declined the idea, they also rejected the idea of incorporating a remixed version of Tamma Tamma (Bappi Lahiri's composition in Thaanedaar)."

For now it looks difficult for the two parties to sort out their problems and roll out their third film together. "Abbas-Mustan are currently concentrating on Race 2. The expectations from the sequel are high after the first film went on to become a huge hit despite releasing during a big cricket tournament. Also, considering their experience of working with the producers on Players, they're not keen to do another film with them so soon. Besides, neither party is committed to the third movie in writing. So they're not too worried about it either," concludes our source.

When contacted, Vikram Malhotra of Viacom denied any differences with Abbas-Mustan. Maintaining that they had not planned a third venture with Burmawala Brothers, he said, "We knew that they were making Race 2 after Players, so there was no talk of a third movie. However, it has been a wonderful experience working with them."

Malhotra goes on to add, "There were discussions about various aspects and appropriate decisions were taken. At the end of the day, we're all striving to make the film as best as we possibly can. After Race 2 if they have a suitable subject, we'd love to collaborate with them again."