When Aamir Khan travelled to the Mahabharata: Bijon Das Gupta tells the story of Time Machine...

Director Shekhar Kapur has the sad track record of having shelved more ideas than, perhaps, anyone else in contemporary Indian cinema. But of all such ideas, one continues to charm and intrigue sci-fi lovers through the disappointment of its abandonment. Time Machine was to be India's jump into the big league of sci-fi way back in the 1990s.

With the main cast comprising Aamir Khan, Raveena Tandon, Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Gulshan Grover and Amrish Puri, the film definitely had the pull required for the box office. It had a director riding the wave of another iconic sci-fi film, Mr India (1987). The music was to be composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, still in their pomp.

Khan was at his peak as a romantic lead, having delivered Dil (1990), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). The film would have been the first collaboration between him and Naseeruddin Shah. The late Vijay Anand had been cast as a scientist with Grover and the late Puri in key roles.

Art director Bijon Das Gupta was tasked with creating the sets and production design for the film. A confidant and regular collaborator of Kapur's, the veteran had done the production design for the filmmaker's debut, Masoom (1982), and for his biggest hit till then, Mr India (1987).

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In a telephone interview with Cinestaan.com, Das Gupta revealed, "Time Machine had almost 10 or 11 reels ready. With a fabulous set, a house and all that. It was Back To The Future (1985) with an Indian touch."

The project was rumoured to be 80% complete when it fell through. While Kapur made several attempts over the years to revive it, interest among producers faded out, though not in the cast and crew: just last year, Grover shared a picture of himself and Khan sporting retro fashion on the sets of Time Machine.

Das Gupta said, "Unfortunately, the producers ran into problems. So they could not go any further. I told Shekhar you take over the project, let's give it to somebody else [for production]. But by the time it got there, there was a backlog of money the producers owed for various things. The film became the casualty. They told us the moment you get money, we can restart. But you know how it goes, it just got dropped."

Time Machine revolved around an orphaned young man, played by Khan, who uses his mentor's machine to travel back in time and look for his parents, played by Naseeruddin Shah and Rekha.

With Kapur later leaving for the US, the project has remained something of a what-if mystery for Indian sci-fi fans. Das Gupta revealed that the script was an audacious one. "Whatever we shot was brilliant!" he said. "That I can tell you. It had the best sequences, including one that takes him back to the Mahabharata."

Apparently one of the sequences had Khan's character travelling through the ages to land up on the battlefield at Kurukshetra. BR Chopra's blockbuster television series Mahabharat (1988) was still fresh in the public mind and Das Gupta said this scene was on similar lines, with Aamir Khan witnessing Krishna's conversation with Arjuna at the start of the fratricidal war.

Another sequence, he revealed, had Khan's young adventurer meeting Amitabh Bachchan before he became a star. "The same way, he goes back in time and sees Amitabh Bachchan at a bus stop," Das Gupta said. "He says, 'You will become a very big actor.' Amitabh is surprised because he is still struggling and does not know [what lies in store]. So Aamir sends him to meet these up and coming writers called Salim and Javed. He tells him, 'Sir, you go and meet them. It will get done.' Then Amitabh gets Zanjeer (1973)."

The art director revealed that there were also plans to get some of the 1990s stars to make guest appearances in the film. 

In a retrospective video on YouTube on the making of the film, Shekhar Kapur described its plot as "the story of an orphan who wants to know about his parents. So, a scientist makes a machine for him through which he can travel in time and meet his parents. I planned to make it like a musical with a mix of the music of the 1960s and the 1990s."

The video revealed some of the sets, with the late Vijay Anand playing the scientist and mentor of Aamir Khan's character and Shah making an appearance as the father.

While there is talk of a remake of Mr India, Time Machine seems to have been consigned to the dustbin. Kapur did try to revive the film as late as in 2008 with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, but the idea never took off.

Das Gupta said, "The script was very well done. There were a couple of guest actors as well. For me, the whole of Mr India, and Time Machine, we never could do green matte work and the rest. Today, all this could be done so easily. You have so much of facilities."

Aamir Khan is currently working on a time-based adventure of his own with the adaptation of Forrest Gump, Laal Singh Chaddha (2022). But he might never again be able to join a script as audacious, adventurous and uninhibited. As they say, heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. Thus, it goes with Shekhar Kapur's lost adventure through time.