Lanka, India deal to make film on Buddha’s life

MUMBAI: An historical epic is to be filmed about the life and teachings of The Buddha, a South Asian production team said.

“The message of the movie gives answers to global crises of conflict and environmental problems,” Navin Gooneratne, the chairman of the Light of Asia Foundation, told reporters.

“We will recreate the city of Kapilavastu where The Buddha was born. Hopefully it will not merely be a film site but a permanent attraction for tourists,” Gooneratne said.

The film, Siddharta Gautama Buddha, is a venture between the foundation, which is based in Colombo and India’s Beyond Dreams Entertainment. Veteran Indian director Shyam Benegal will direct the movie.

“The life of Siddhartha is full of excitement and few people realise that. One needs to look at all these aspects because His journey has been so thrilling,” Benegal said.

The company has inked the deal with Film Location Services.

The film will be shot both in India and Sri Lanka ahead of a scheduled release in mid-2009. The cast is yet to be decided,

Buddhist scholar Nimal De Silva will head the research team, which will include experts from China, Japan and South Korea.

Film Location Services’ Chairman Chandran Rutnam speaking to Businessofcinema.com said, “I have been associated with many Hollywood films and have always wanted to work with producers in Bollywood. Yash Chopra and I will be dealing with subjects, which have not been experimented before.”

Rutnam added that these will be medium budget movies, each estimated to be around Rs. 20 million.