Viacom 18 is not pulling itself out of 'Gabbar' though it had previously decided to get off the project. After the flop show of 'Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara' and 'Boss' at the box office, there was talk about Viacom 18 pulling out of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Gabbar' starring the Akshay Kumar.

But now, the studio is back in the project as co-producer, confident that this time Akshay will pull in the crowds and the numbers. A source close to the development told, "Last year, the studio struck a big deal with SLB Films for their upcoming movies. But after a while it decided to go slow on the commitments and renegotiate on a few deals, following which there were multiple meetings with Bhansali."

However, recently their faith in the actor resurrected and they reapproached Bhansali. The source added, "The deal has been locked at Rs 78 crore. Akshay was clear on the price and didn't want any renegotiation arguing that certain films need a budget and ' Gabbar' is one of them. The studio is happy with the final outcome."

Ajit Andhare, COO of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, and Bhansali did not revert to our texts but the film is progressing smoothly with a stubbled Akshay Kumar, a bearded R Madhavan and Shruti Haasan.