Mumbai, Jul 24 (IANS): Producer Sandeep Singh on Monday announced that he's shelving the film on Tipu Sultan, the celebrated king of Mysore and shared that the reason behind this is because he, his family and friends are getting threats from Tipu's followers. 

He took to Twitter on Monday to announce the shelving of the contentious film on Tipu Sultan.

"The film on Hazrat Tipu Sultan will not be made. I kindly request my fellow brothers and sister to refrain from threatening or abusing my family, friends and me. I sincerely apologise if I have unintentionally hurt anyone's religious sentiments," he tweeted.

The statement further read: "It was never my intention to do so, as I firmly believe in respecting all beliefs. As Indians, let us forever unite and always give respect to one another!"

The film was supposed to be co-produced by Sandeep, Eros International and Rashmi Sharma Films.

It was scheduled to be released in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

The film was announced ahead of the Karnataka assembly polls in May.

At the time when the movie was announced, Sandeep had said that he was shocked to learn the true reality of Tipu Sultan. The story gave me goosebumps.

"This is the cinema I personally believe in. Whether it's PM Narendra Modi, SwatantryaVeer Savarkar, Atal or Bal Shivaji - my films stand for truth. I think people knew what a tyrant Tipu Sultan was but chose to ignore it. And this is exactly what I want to showcase on 70mm. Honestly, he doesn't even deserve to be called a Sultan."

"I was brainwashed into believing him to be a braveheart as shown in our history textbooks. But nobody knows his malevolent side. I want to expose his dark side for the future generation."