[icernet] Hollywood turns to India for inspiration

[Arul Selvan]

  Aishwarya Rai to be the next Bond girl? Lagaan to script Bollywood 
history at the Oscars? Bollywood bad boy Salman Khan to star in Willard 
Carroll's romantic musical Marigold? The list goes on about tinseltown 
news that kept alive the Indian hopes of an indelible Bollywood mark on 
Hollywood. But each time they were just off the mark and proved to be 
"also rans".

After a series of so-near-yet-so-far Bollywood bungles, hopes are 
soaring once again. This time around it is not Hindi filmdom's feeble 
attempt to grab the attention of Hollywood royalty. For Hollywood is 
finally recognizing the power of love, to conquer on celluloid the epic 
Indian saga of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

Warner Brothers has just announced that it is producing a movie about 
the epic love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. This is the 
first time a major Hollywood studio has decided to make a movie on a 
topic that is much beloved in India and Bollywood. Interestingly, the 
news came at a time when Bollywood actor-cum-director Akbar Khan is 
lending final touches to his very own dream project Taj Mahal, an 
opulent movie on the same subject.

The WB movie, based on a screenplay by Pakistan-American journalist 
turned screenwriter Kamran Pasha, is also an example of the growing 
South Asian prominence in Hollywood. The WB executive in charge of the 
movie is Aditya Sood, an Indian-American who is a rising star at the studio.

Source:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EF18Df04.html