[Reader-list] Amitav Bacchan to Play Bangladesh Founder

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

"To project a person of the magnitude of Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujib), I
could not imagine no one other than him (Amtav Bacchan)"

Beyond ridiculous.....

Indian megastar Bachchan to play Bangladesh founder
Thu May 1, 2008 12:58pm IST
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-33341020080501

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his
celebrity family members have all tentatively agreed to take part in a
film based on the life of Bangladesh's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, local media said on Thursday.

Amitabh will take the role of Mujib in the film, named "The Poet of
Politics," while his son Abhishek Bachchan will act in the role of a
young Mujib, Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, the producer of the film, told
ANA, a U.S.-based Bangladeshi news agency.

The ANA report, published in several Dhaka dailies on Thursday, said
Chowdhury, an expatriate Bangladeshi journalist and newspaper
columnist, also told the news agency that Amitabh's daughter-in-law
and former Miss Universe, Aishwarya Rai, and renowned actress Shabana
Azmi will also act in two key roles.

Shyam Benegal, the only director to won India's National Film Award
for Best Feature Film in Hindi five times, will direct the movie.

"After getting the consent of Amitabh, I am now a relieved man. To
project a person of the magnitude of Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujib), I
could not imagine no one other than him," Chowdhury was quoted as
saying in New York.

"Now not only Amitabh, his other family members have also agreed to
take up the challenge," added Chowdhury.

It was not clear when Chowdhury will start shooting the film, which
will be made in English and dubbed into Bengali, Hindi and other
languages.

Mujib led Bangalis to an independence struggle in 1971, which resulted
in the independence of former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Mujib was killed, along with most of his family, in a 1975 coup.

(c) Thomson Reuters 2008.