In 1982, Ben Kingsley became Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. The film instantly became a classic and went on to dominate the Oscars, earning Best Picture, Director, Actor, Writing, Editing, Costume Design, Cinematography, and Art Direction. And even though those are ridiculously enormous shoes to fill, the Guardian reports that Kingsley is heading back to Indian history to play Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the Taj Mahal.Back in the mid-1600s, Shah Jahan was a Mughal Emperor who was devastated when his favorite (third) wife Mumtaz Mahal died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. In her honor, he decided to erect a grand mausoleum that would not only be epically impressive and beautiful, but also so glorious that sins would be washed away. It took roughly 21 years to create and has been included on some Seven Wonders of the World lists.
Titled Taj, the script was written by British novelist and playwright David Ashton, and is still looking for a director. Alongside Kingsley will be Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who will play Mumtaz Mahal. This won't, however, be her first stab at the object of such desire: The former Miss World and Bride & Prejudice star played Mumtaz in the 2007 short musical, Journey Across India.
SBK Pictures is hoping to start production in the fall of 2010, but for now: Do you think Kingsley can make Indian history win in Hollywood once again?
1. i don't even get past the first sentence and there is a GLARING spelling error...Gandhi, not Ghandi.
Please, can you at least update this post so that his name is spelled correct...???
Posted at 5:10PM on Nov 25th 2009 by angry indian