If 'Ra.One' is the costliest movie ever made, then here is a contender in the making.
Actor-filmmaker Shah Rukh Khan has admitted to an international newspaper that he is trying to make a film on Mahabharata which sources say will be mounted on a grander scale than his last Diwali release 'Ra.One'. Sources say that this time the production and the publicity cost could well be over Rs 200 crores.
"Shah Rukh is already excited about the Mahabharata project and he thinks that it might be far bigger and better in its scale than 'Ra.One'. He is also in talks with a foreign production house to market it properly into territories where Bollywood has never been. It will be a truly world commercial release," says a source.
Sources also say that Shah Rukh wants the special effects of this film to be more advanced than James Cameron's 'Avatar'. "He is pretty excited about it and the table-work for the movie is already on. On the other hand, we are already exploring options of a tie-up for the production. Shah Rukh is of the opinion that the marketing of the film can be thought about later on. Right now, all we need is a great product (read film)," the source.
SRK, in his interview with a London-based foreign newspaper, has already announced his intention of making a film on the epic.
"His ultimate goal, he says, is to make the mother of all Indian movies, an 'Avatar'-style spectacular based on the Mahabharata, which he claims could be Bollywood's first truly global blockbuster. That would cost much more, he says, probably only slightly less than the $450 million (approximately Rs 2,250 crore) spent on 'Avatar'," says The Times.
"I think it would be fantastic, the world's greatest film. It would be Mahabharata made like 'Lord of the Rings' -- a trilogy. The world would come to see it. The inherent story is one of the most interesting in the world. There are amazing superheroes, 20 times better than 'X-men' -- gods of the sun and wind who can make fire and gales at will. There are monsters, ghosts. It's really awesome," he was quoted to have said.
According to the report, Shah Rukh has already held talks with Hollywood studios in India like 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers.
Source: Soumyadipta Banerjee, DNA-Daily News & Analysis
http://entertainment.in.msn.com/bollywood/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5749382
Cricket
30