Ghai’s strategy for a ‘global appeal’ for his film on Osho
Acharya Rajneesh, popular as Osho, was a spiritual leader with a global following. And that’s why filmmaker Subhash Ghai wants his upcoming biopic on the controversial guru to be nothing but an international blockbuster.
The film was announced at the India Pavilion at the recent Cannes Film Festival and Ghai had said that it will be made in English for a “global audience”. That’s why he wants to cast “only” foreign actors. “We’ll only look for international or Hollywood actors, because we want the world to know about Acharya Rajneesh. Indian stars won’t be able to deliver on that,” he says
Ghai cites the example of the 1982 classic, Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi. “It worked because it had an international star cast, and that’s why it won an Oscar. Had some Indian actor played Gandhi, it wouldn’t have won anything. [Before the film released] people [outside of India] didn’t even know who Gandhi was or where India was. That’s the kind of impact we want to create with this film.”
Ghai will produce, while the film will be directed by Italian director Lakshen Sucameli, who co-wrote the script of Rang De Basanti (2006) with Kamlesh Pandey. Ghai asserts that only a foreign director can bring him the desired results, as in the case of Gandhi (the film).
“Again, the way Richard Attenborough made that film... we want that... a very unbiased portrayal of the man. We want to tell people the truth about the man, and foreign perspective is the only way one can achieve that,” says Ghai.
The film will chronicle the life of Rajneesh, from his birth in 1931 till his death in 1990. Ghai reveals that they are still working on a script. “Those who criticise him (Osho), do so over his views on sex. People don’t like to talk about books he has written on spirituality, or poverty,” he opines.
We’ll only look for international actors, because we want the world to know about Acharya Rajneesh. Indian stars won’t be able to deliver on that
SUBHASH GHAI
FILMMAKER