Ben Kingley's Taj *ing Ash Options

[Sharmila-Sweet]

Days of the Taj

Prithwish Ganguly / DNASunday, November 22, 2009 23:59 IST


Mumbai: After a nearly two-year wait comes the official announcement that Sir Ben Kingley's production house SBK Pictures is making a movie called Taj.


DNA
Sir Ben Kingsley announces his ambitious film Taj, starring Aishwarya Rai as Mumtaz Mahal and himself as Shah Jahan.Ben will star as Shah Jahan and Bollywood's global icon Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is playing Mumtaz Mahal in this period drama that will try to recreate the eternal love story that inspired the Taj Mahal.

Interestingly, there's no Bipasha Basu in the film as suggested by some earlier reports.
While the makers are not revealing their entire cast just now, Ben might spill the beans when he visits India for the International Film Festival of India in Goa, which starts next week. The project has a budget of $25-30 million and Ben will be meeting Indian investors to fund the film.

"With my passion for India and the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, I am compelled to ask "why" and "how" this scream of grief, frozen in marble, came into being," Ben said in a statement. "We have a beautiful script by David Ashton (British playwright and novelist). We so look forward to working with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and all the other great creative souls this project is already attracting."

DNA has learnt through sources that the process of seeking permission from authorities to shoot at the Taj Mahal -- and several other historical monuments of Shah Jahan's reign -- has started. The movie will be filmed entirely in India but the post-production will happen in Hollywood.