A source, close to the development, on condition of anonymity, reveals, "The idea has been in the works for over a year now. Madhu Mantena was always clear that he will be making the two epics Ramayana and The Mahabharata and that he will work with Deepika, who's also a very close friend. The whole film is based on Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's book The Pallace Of Illusions. It says the same cultural story, just from a very different viewpoint. The team has finally got the rights to the book and the pre-production work has already begun. Another big A-list actor is also in talks to play one of the key roles, but nothing has been locked as yet."