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The figure may seem paltry by Hollywood standards, but it is new territory in India, where costs for its highest-budget movies barely skim $25 million.
"The 'Mahabharata' is an epic of all epics," Shetty said in a statement. "I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. I am confident that this film will be adapted in over 100 languages and reach over 3 billion people across the world."
"Randamoozham" will be an adaptation of the novel of the same name by M.T. Vasudevan Nair, an award-winning Malayalam author, who will also script the film.
It will be ad-maker-turned-director V.A. Shrikumar Menon's second movie, with production expected to begin in September 2018. Set to be shot in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, the two-part film will be released in 2020.
Behind the epic
At 1.8 million words and nearly 10 times the length of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" combined, the "Mahabharata" is the longest poem ever written.
The text is believed to date back to between the 8th and 9th centuries BC and is traditionally understood to be written by Vyasa, a Hindu sage.
It tells the story of two sets of paternal cousins, the Pandava princes, whose father is the deceased King Pandu, and the Kauravas, sons of the blind King Dhritarashtra. The Pandavas and the Kauravas become rivals as they battle for the ancestral kingdom of Bharata.
Along with being an epic war narrative, the "Mahabharata" also contains philosophical and spiritual lessons.
"Randamoozham" will tell its story through the eyes of the second Pandava prince Bhima, tipped to be played by Keralan actor and producer Mohanlal.
The new Bollywood
For decades, the Hindi-film industry, or Bollywood, has stuck to a conventional plot of "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins back girl," interjected with sequences of song and dance.
It's a tried and tested formula but one that's becoming stale as Indian audiences grow accustomed to the high production of American films and television.
However, in recent years Bollywood's southern rivals, namely the Telugu film industry dubbed Tollywood, have been plowing in hefty funds and reaping the rewards.
The upcoming "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" is a mythological saga based on a traditional plot of good vs. evil and charts the journey of a prince who rediscovers his royal roots and sets out to reclaim his kingdom.
VFX sector blows up
Since 2010, the country's animation and VFX sector has nearly doubled in value from $367.3 million to $792 million in 2015.