Now we all know the penchant award winning director Ashutosh Gowariker has for period films. So this should come as no surprise to the masses that Gowariker has announced that his next directorial venture is going to be an English film based on the life of Gautam Buddha. The movie, to be produced by Spice Infotainment Ltd, looks set to break records as the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood with an estimated budget set at Rs 600 crores and is expected to go to floor in May 2010 and be completed by year end.
Addressing a press conference held in Mumbai on Sunday, Gowariker said that the script of the movie has been written by Academy Award winner David Ward and will be titled Buddha and that he is yet to finalise the actor.
“I think the scope of Buddha is global that there are so many countries that are deeply interested, if they had not become Buddhist they are deeply taking interest in learning about Buddhism, learning about what Buddha was all about and keeping that in mind, an international face could do justice to the character as much as an Indian face could,” said Gowariker.
Speaking about the movie’s budget in these belt tightening times, he said that to re-create history would be an expensive proposition. “This is the story that unfolded 2,500 years ago. A time in ancient Indian when you had slavery, you had cruelty and neither that is completely far removed from what we have today. To re-create that is an expensive proposition,” added Gowariker.
The film which is to be based Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thichhat Hanh publication ‘Old Path White Clouds’ will be shot in the Himalayas.
