Buddha (film)

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Buddha is an upcoming film, currently in pre-production status.

[edit] Introduction

The next movie and the first to be released on the holy one world wide, will have Indian actor Hrithik Roshan^{[citation needed]} starring as the Buddha. Throughout major parts of the movie Hrithik Roshan is seen with a shaven head. The release of the first Jesus films at the end of the 19th century made many people sympathizing with Buddha and Buddhism ask for a film about the life of Siddhartha Gautama. However, it was not before the 1920s that the first Buddha films had their premieres. These movies were produced in India, but later other countries followed, such as Japan and Korea, whereas at present the Maha Bodhi Society attempts to initiate the production of another one.

[edit] History

The first film about the life of Buddha was probably Buddhadev (English title: Lord Buddha) which was produced by the well-known Indian filmer Dadasaheb Phalke (1870-1944) in 1926. Two years later, another important Buddhafilm was released, The Light of Asia (Hindi title: Prem Sanyas). This movie was made by the German filmmaker Franz Osten (1975-1956). Himansu Rai played the Buddha. The script was based on the book The Light of Asia composed by the British poet Sir Edwin Arnold, which was issued by the Theosophical Society in 1891. The film was a greater success in Europe than in India. It gives a somewhat romantic picture of the life of Buddha. Buddhadev as well as The Light of Asia were silent films.[1]

The third film about Buddha was a documentary film entitled Gotama the Buddha. It was released by the government of India in 1956 on the opportunity of the fact that Buddha was born 2500 years ago. Rajbans Khanna acted as director and Bimal Roy as producer. It got an honourable mention on the filmfestival of Cannes in 1957 because of its beauty and high morality. It is a black-and-white film consisting of beautiful images of natural environments, archeological sites, reliefs and paintings, ancient ones from Ajanta as well as modern ones accompanied by a voice over relating the history of Buddha.

The fourth film about Buddha was a Japanese one, Shaka, produced by Kenji Misumi in 1961. It seems that in 1963 this film was rolled in the USA under the title Buddha.[2] The fifth film was released in Korea in 1964. It title was Seokgamoni, which probably is the Korean form of Sakyamuni, the name the Mahayana Buddhists use for the Buddha. There is, however, some uncertainty whether this film really represents the life of the historical Buddha, since the decription in the IMDb website speaks about a prince who studies to become a Buddhist priest. [3] This can mean that the film does not delineates the life of the historical Buddha, but the life of a prince who lived in later times and who decided to go the way he found in the teachings of Buddha in his environment.

In 1997 the Indian producer G.A. Sheshagiri Rao made a Buddha film as well. It was simply entitled Buddha. This one did not roll in cinemas, but it was only sold on dvd. This one is also the longest movie about Buddha, as it consists of five dvds with approximately 180 minutes film each.

[edit] Recent plans

David S. Ward, Oscar-winning script writer of "The Sting," "Milagro Beanfield War" and "Sleepless in Seattle," has signed up to pen "Buddha," the big-budget production that will mark the film production debut of Beverly Hills-based Indian billionaire Dr. B.K. Modi's M Films.

The $120 million English-language film accquired the right to use the book "Old Path, White Clouds," a comprehensive translation of the Buudha's life from a number of ancient sutras by Thich Nhat Hanh. Michel Shane and Anthony Romano ("I Robot," "Catch Me If You Can") will executive produce through their Hand Picked Films on behalf of Modi's M Films.

Dr. Modi, is bankrolling development and pre-production. Shane and Romano will package the project for financial partners and studio or indie distribution.

David S. Ward is a well known Hollywood film director and Oscar Award winning screen writer. Ward has degrees from both U.C.L.A. and U.S.C., and was employed at an educational film production company when he managed to sell his screenplay for The Sting, (1974), which lead to an Oscar win in that category. After this initial success, his follow up projects were critically and commercially well received, including Ward's maiden directorial effort, Cannery Row (1982) and a sequel The Sting II (1983). In 1986, Ward was contracted by Sting star Robert Redford, who hired the screenwriter to work on the Redford-directed The Milagro Beanfield War. The response to this project enabled Ward to sell Morgan Creek and Mirage Productions to bankroll Major League (1988), a baseball comedy. Perhaps autobiographically, Major League and Ward's subsequent efforts as a writer and director, King Ralph (1991) and Major League II (1993), were about underdogs who triumphed over the gadflies and nay-sayers of the world. Ward later scored a box-office coup with his screenplay for 1993's Sleepless in Seattle. He went back to the well directing the sequel Major League 2, and then moved onto the Navy comedy Down Periscope starring Kelsey Grammer and most recently wrote Flyboys a 2006 World War 1 drama starring James Franco and directed by Tony Bill.

David S. Ward also currently is a professor at Chapman University, in Southern California, where he teaches screenwriting and directing, and acts as a Filmmaker in Residence for the campus.

"The story will be told through the eyes of the water buffalo boy. It needs to be clear that this is an interpretation, not a direct vision of Buddha," Michel Shane said at Cannes earlier this year. Hand Picked foresees production next year and delivery for May 2008. Pic will likely lens in the U.S., Japan, China, Thailand and India. Movie has the blessing of the Dalai Lama, who recently marked the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York by hosting a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel with Dr. Modi.

[edit] External links

• Buddha at the Internet Movie Database
• The Light of Asia [4]
• Shakhar Kapur's blog