After The Last Legion which released earlier this year to a damp response, Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya Rai are set to team up once again for a film based on the building of the Taj Mahal. According to Kingsley (as told to Indiafm.com), “Aishwarya and I spoke about it while we were shooting The Last Legion last year. She very generously agreed to do the project with me. Aishwarya and I will be playing Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. My production company is right now working with a screenwriter. I’ve very clear ideas about my approach to this subject. The romance will also include Shah Jahan’s abject isolation for years in a prison cell.”
In addition, this project reveals Bipasha Basu’s second Hollywood venture after her recent announcement Shantaram. Her manager Simone Sheffield confirms that she will be playing Shah Jahan’s eldest daughter named Jahanara Begum. Is this a casting coup or what?
The film will be shot in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri in mid-2008. One can only imagine Kingsley as Shah Jahan after his brilliant portrayal as Gandhi.
