After the box office disaster of Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking, the rumour is that UTV has backed out of the director's next project, Dev D, starring Abhay Deol.

According to sources, UTV has signed Abhay for three projects and the actor had blocked his dates from November to March next year for Kashyap's film as the idea was to wrap up the film in one schedule. But for some strange reason the project has got stalled, and it is being believed that UTV has backed out of it. UTV has started a sister concern called Spotboy Motion Pictures, which would make small to medium budget films and Dev D was supposed to be the first film to be made by this company. The film is a modern day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel Devdas. The plot of the film was conceived by Abhay and then worked upon by Kashyap. The director however has denied that UTV has worked out. He explains the delay saying that he would only be able to work on the film once work on Hanuman Returns finishes. He says that he is still looking out for his Chandramukhi. So far, he has Abhay and newcomer Mahi Gill on board.