PTI Apr 17, 2017, 02.18 PM
IST
KOCHI: A UAE-based Indian businessman is
investing Rs 1,000 crore (USD 150 million) to produce India's biggest-ever
motion picture, 'The Mahabharata'.
This magnum opus is being directed by noted ad
man and advertising film maker V A Shrikumar Menon.
It will
be produced in two parts and is scheduled to go on the floors by September 2018
for a release in early 2020. The second part will be released within 90 days of
the first.
"The film will be shot primarily in English,
Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu and will be dubbed into major
Indian languages and leading foreign languages," a release from a company
owned by serial entrepreneur and B R RPT B R Shetty, who is backing the film,
said.
The
film will be a coming together of the crème de la crème of Indian and global
cinema in terms of cast and crew. The technical crew would include some of the
great names in world cinema, including some Academy Award winners. The cast
would have the best of talents from Indian cinema, as well as some big names
from Hollywood
"This
film will have an identity across continents, with their representatives
donning the myriad characters in 'The Mahabharata'! A global team led by an
internationally renowned casting director will handpick the cast," the
release said.
It said Shetty has been a keen supporter of
Indian arts and culture for over many decades.
It remains almost impossible to narrate The Mahabharata on
the big screen except by adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair's Jnanpeeth Award
winning novel 'Randamoozham'(The Second Turn), which narrates the epic through
the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas.
"The screenplay is written by the writer
himself, who holds a record of maximum National Awards for screen writing in
the history of Indian cinema," the release said.
This ancient Sanskrit epic has been a topic of
creative adaptation in various formats for many decades.There have also been
efforts to render it, but successes have been limited to the stage or
serialisation for television audiences.
Hence, this project would be the first of its
kind to take the epic which has engaged generations of audiences on the silver
screen at such a grand level, the release said. Shetty, Founder and Chairman of UAE Exchange and
NMC Health care, said the movie would be a true 'Make in India' made for the
world and he believed it would 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 three billion people across the
world," he was quoted as saying in the release.
Commenting on the initiative, Padma Bhushan
awardee and noted Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair, recipient of almost
every literary award in India, including Jnanpith Award and many abroad, said
he was extremely happy with Shetty's belief in the story's potential and his
passion and commitment to take it to global audiences.
Shrikumar Menon, Director, who has been living the script and
researching for this project for the past few years, said "We are fully
geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well
as narrative wizardry with this initiative."
Read more at:
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