Vikram Vedha producers have issued a clarification on reports that the film’s budget doubled due to Hrithik Roshan‘s demands. Some recent media reports claimed that the actor, who plays the gangster Vedha in the action thriller, had asked for a film set depicting Uttar Pradesh in Dubai instead of filming it in the state itself. Also Read| Vikram Vedha directors reveal how Hrithik Roshan-Saif Ali Khan film is different from Tamil original

Reliance Entertainment, who co-produced the film, released a statement on Monday to deny these reports. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the statement on his Twitter account, in which Reliance Entertainment confirmed filming in Abu Dhabi but referred to the reports as ‘misleading.’

The statement read, “We have been noticing a lot of misleading and totally unsubstantiated reporting on Vikram Vedha shooting locations. We clearly want to state that Vikram Vedha has been shot extensively in India, including Lucknow. A portion of the film was shot in the United Arab Emirates in October-November of 2021 since it was the only location providing the infrastructure for a bio-bubble that accommodated crew of such scale, also allowing building of sets in a studio during the preceding months of the shoot.”

Reliance Entertainment further clarified, “We chose to do that out of health and protocol concerns. Any attempts to twist these set of facts are clearly mischievous and untruthful.” The production house also said that the actors in their films are not usually involved in making such decisions. They said, “Also, we would like to emphatically state that at Reliance Entertainment while we welcome suggestions from creative talent, the production and budgetary decisions are a centralised prerogative.”

Vikram Vedha is the Hindi remake of the 2017 Tamil hit of the same name which starred R Madhavan as Vikram and Vijay Sethupathi as Vedha. The remake which is due for theatrical release on September 30 stars Saif Ali Khan as Vikram and Hrithik as Vedha. Both the films are helmed by director duo Pushkar-Gayathri.