Shekhar Kapur is all set to break his directorial sabbatical and return to mainstream filmmaking with Paani. The film on the water scarcity problem in India has been on Shekhar’s mind for 13 years. Although work on the project tentatively began in 2014 with Sushant Singh Rajput and Ayesha Kapoor, by early 2015 Paani was shelved.

The film was then supposedly being produced under the YRF banner by Aditya Chopra and that was the reason that the production house’s discovery, Sushant, was on board. But Aditya and Shekhar failed to see eye-to-eye on the film and YRF chose to back out of Paani.
Shekhar had announced Paani at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 but the film never really took off then. And later, after YRF, reports suggested that Shekhar had Hrithik Roshan in mind for the film and was making it independently.

But Hrithik got busy with Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro and Paani failed to take off again. At the time there were rumours that the filmmaker might make Paani with some Hollywood stars he was in contact with. But once more, nothing came of this too.
Now comes the news (from the MAMI Film Festival) that Shekhar is picking up Paaniagain. "I am definitely making Paani," Shekhar confirmed. He had earlier said, “I’ve lived with this project for many years now. When I first spoke about the impending water scarcity 12 years ago, people laughed at me. Today, famine is looming large.”

Shekhar, who directed films like Bandit Queen and Elizabeth, admitted that he is inspired by Baahubali director SS Rajamoli. "I am very impressed with Rajamoli after watching Baahubali," Shekhar revealed, adding, "Like him, I too am planning to make my film in two parts."

The filmmaker’s confidence notwithstanding, sources say Shekhar has announced Paani so many times before nobody knows for sure whether the film will ever go on the floors.