Today, I had 3 calls from the press asking me if Brad Pitt is acting in Buddha. I assume they are asking if Brad is playing the Buddha ?
I have no idea where this idea comes from. I have heard that Aishwarya Rai also is in the film. That is not far from the truth. I have spoken to Ash about playing either Sujata or Yashodhara.
However, I have heard that the producer, Dr Modi is getting restless and is approaching other Directors. Well, I will ot be the first to fall by the wayside. He had signed Bernardo Bertolluci 17 years ago. That obviously did not work and Bertolluchi went ahead to make his own film “Little Buddha”. Dr Modi then went to Mira Nair, who was pretty close to shooting the film when it all fell through.
So if it does not work with me, I will be in great company !
But honestly ? I would love to make this film. Who would’nt ?
Shekhar Kapur
Mr. Kapur, I’m concerned that the integrity of this film is at risk. Besides Chopra, will there be individuals with credentials in genuine Buddhist erudition, like monks or scholars learnt in the Pali Tipitaka, working on the script? Namaste.
If you are shooting this film i am coming and assisting you or being a part of the project and i am not going to listen to you if you say no , he he i have some right on you shekhar trust me i do .And don’t tell me i can be a part of the project by watching the film in theatre .Also i understand when you say that this website cannot be a sales pitch hey shekhar can i share something with you u said u travel a lot so it’s tough to get in touch with you ,well do u travel faster than intution. light, will of god , the right time ,do u ?Incase you do then you are right maybe i may not be able to make it in case you don’t then hmm i have a strong chance to see you .Not only see you even work with you probably as an actor and i can bet on it , you don’t know how connected i am to you guys you have no idea .wait and watch. How do u like the name !yaksha!
Interesting. I have been getting email alerts saying he is in it (?) Its in today’s papers… Why is the cast being touted before even a director is finalized…
Hey Shekhar,Brad Pitt will just be a fake in terms of truth in portraying a charector!
If you relly want an ACTOR par excillence (He is not popular!)go for KORAK DAY who made and also acted in MY KARMA which got major awards in the New York Film Festival here in LA.
Read this and find out yourself rather than using others to find out about him.
http://www.reeltalkreviews.com/browse/viewitem.asp?type=feature&id=74
If you are lucky he will extract time for you from his work which makes him a Buddha+.
I wish you kept your blog separate from your movies etc. I thought, the blog would be a chance to discuss burning issues in India and abroad and a chance to put our organized thoughts in a sequence, but there is quite a mad rush of fans and a chance to get your attnetion, which does not provide the intellectual vigour to the blog.
Hi Shekhar,
I want to put one of my strange and wild wish..for past some time..just after i have listened that u r making film buddha.. a strange thought came to me that i will be part of this project somehow.. I donot want any money ..no lust for that..I donot know how it came to my mind ..but it came.. I just want to be a part of it… spot boy or whatever.. rite now i am working in a software company as an software executive..I follow vipassana meditation.
So lets see how thought is culminated into reality..Do think of it..
HI Shekhar:
Brad Pitt as Buddha ????
He has sold his soul, his acting has sliding down hill from his earlier days. His ego is acting rather than acting from his heart.
I hope you will reconsider this role for someone else who is far more superior in acting.
sl
Ashwaria, U are far more talented then that. Someone else. she has now become a typical choice of those trying to be different.
Another point- I feel that I have all the attributes to make a good Actor and I know i will make it to the top, on my own merit. I am 25 originally an Indian, now living in London (Accountant- temporary status). I am neither a star son,nor from a wealthy background. I feel that Indians have a tendency of Looking through ones talent. Hindi cinema has created a barrier which excludes any outsiders. India has a strong capitialist system. We all look through our Pali Hill appartments and make stories on poverty, but non of us have the guts to go beyond that.
Shakhar best of Luck,
Another question Why Vivek for Pani?
Make a film with new actors and make it an international hit, Like you did with Bandit queen.
Hello Mr Shekar ,
It has always been a pleasure seeing your movies.
Something that i want from you.
I heard that for the Movie ” Buddha ” , they were searching for a face. I have a kid whose name is gautam . He is ten.I would like to send his picture . He may been seen as kid Buddha.You could help me by telling me how i can go about this .
Plus i have taken part in some plays with Mr Vikram Kapadia .And it gives me a great satisfaction being on stage ;Incase there is an opportunity to work with you ,it will be wonderful for me. premkumar lamba
Respected Mr. Shekar jee, Let me first tell you that i think you are one of the most talented and intelligent person. i apreciate each and every work of yours. Thank you.
I just read about the insearch of a buddha’s face and I must tell you that my younger brother who is 18 years old could be a good fit. Though we are tibetan by heritage, my brother this very interesting look of asian and indian. yes, his ears are little big and elongated, sharp features with long nose. If you would like to see a picture. I shall most willing to send. thank you.
Dear Shekhar,
The Buddha is another element,like water, air, space…He is a teaching that lives with me, since the day my grandfather once told me how, when Buddha was sitting under the peepul tree at night, he suddenly went, TRUTH, TRUTH, TRUTH.
This story was told with the intention that I stop cheating in my exams and generally stop lying.
It didn’t work.
Not in the way it was intended.
But it made me a seeker of Truth.
And a lifetime lover of Buddha.
Shekhar, I am very happy that someone is finally making a film on the most enchanting of the historical Heroes.
I am an alumni of FTII, 1992 batch (editing).
I have worked as a documentary filmmaker most of the years since.
I have attended six Vipassana courses.
I have written a novel, “A Grasshoppers Pilgrimage” that I am trying to get published.
I would love to be a part of this effort.
Be it research, script, shoot, edit.
Either way, best wishes.
Hi- that’s pretty funny… Didn’t he play the buddha in something else- or he was looking for one? h’mmmm. I’d like to play a buddha… lol.
Oh- I love BANDIT QUEEN. One of my favourite movies. Please check out my ‘myspace’ and blogs, etc. It’s pretty cool- you should get a movie page- would be great to have you on there.
Goodmorning. 🙂
Whats this?
hello Mr. Kapur,
I really dont know when you will read this, so i wont write much. i stay in India (Pune to be precise) stuck with a job i dont like.. FILMMAKING is where i belong (i am posting this only after reading the phase “i dream, therefore i am”) and ONE of my dreams is to assist you in a feature film directed by you. (even if it is the Nth assistant to you). i won’t say that i will wait for or expect a reply from you but trust me if at all you reply that will be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me YET!! i will come and meet you wherever you are (atleast i will try my best) Hope to see you someday sir… signing off, quoting a dialogue from the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” that has now become something i live by… “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams… I hope. ”
Oh Sekhar, I had a huge crush on you growing up. My affair with you started watching you in Udaan. You were so handsome and why ‘were’..you still are. As a teenager I used to crave for every episode of Udaan just because of you. Now that i am married and am a mother…sometimes all those emotions feel so amazing. Thinking about them ..those times…the newness of feelings and what it is to be touched by someone. YOur first love (dont even get me started on him)…i dont know sekhar what i am saying …do you?
shekhar ji you dont need any big star for your movie because you are the star of your movie.whenever i watch your movie i feel your prescence in every frame of your movie.
Dear Mr. Kapur: I am a Chinese-American actor based both in NYC and Beijing. I believe that I would be right for one of the many roles in BUDDHA due to my professional background as well as my education. Please check out my profile with imdb.com. I am a big fan of your movies and sincerely hope that you still will direct this next masterpiece. I would love to be able to read for you or send you an audition tape. Please go to imdb.com pro for my contact info. Many thanks.
My life’s been dull. I just don’t have much to say right now, but it’s not important. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about.
The site is excellent!
real good site.
it is a shame that commercial viability is all that matters. it is the sensibilities of great thinkers as yourself that interpretations find legitimate air in. yet, i was told by a great man that creativity is spontaneous. Buddha is an important film. i did not enjoy watching the visuals of mr betolucci’s film. maybe, because i so strongly have my own drawn out ahead.
you would be perfect for this.
Hi Sekhar,
I’m glad that u’re finally making a movie that I hav been longing to watch.
How long will you take this time?
hello shekhar,
i love reading your website, all the subjects seem to be so interesting, and the comments of a deep nature.
thank you for that.
i have switched the t.v. on and it is showing kundun…..
i also was working in italy when bertolucci made the buddha, and was in marocco when scorsese was shooting…
will i finally be able to contribute to a project so close to my hart??
could you please let me know how i can forward my c.v. to you.
my best wishes
I am sorry Livia, but at this moment I am not attatched to that project. The producer and I did not agree on the nature of the film. But who knows what will happen in the future ? shekhar
hi shekhar (sir),
its great to have such a creative director from my country!
it was also great to hear, you were doing Buddha! one of the great personality of our own India!
i was surprised when hearing that one Hollywood director studied gandhi for years n came with great movie! really its great pce of art! but there are so many such personalities are still here!
but no one is DARING to touch one of them!
why so……..
are they not capable of doing that??
do u think so..
there is Buddha, Ashoka, Shivaji, Ranapratap, Netaji so many……..
can we not portray them in front of entire world.
i am happy you came with happy. but will be more happy if someone came with Queen of Zansi!
Urs great fan,
Abhijeet
Hi Shekhar
I have always found u’r work interesting..
As a child , I saw u first,in sum short story, where in u play the protagonist , who gets a wish granted , for a very huge blow on his conscience. … i.e sumbody unrelated to him dies..the story sumhow remained with me though can’t say I fully understood it then. Do u remember it too ??
yes I do, Vandana. But I cannot remember a film called Libaas ?? shekhar
Brad Pitt is not a bad idea even if he acts in it as Buddha.More people will get to know about Buddha this way than otherwise.
But if you are having his name attached to the project before-hand by the papparazzi or gossip-mongers for free, it does gain immense popular attention for the film.People of the Brad-Pitt-following-kind atleast get to know a film is being made on Buddha.They are huge in number and exactly the people who need Buddha the most.
What is the complaining all about?
I DONT THINK, THE “BRAD PITT” WAS SUITABLE THAT FILM. BUT IN MY OPINION ANY OTHER SOUTH INDIAN ACTOR WAS COMPLETE AND INSTANT MIXED IN THAT ROLL. FOR THE BETTER FACE OF FILM AND EVEN SPEECH & CONVERSATION ……………
REGARDS
SACHIN JADHAV
9920283847
Dear Sir,
I presume you will remember my father, Mr Sujit Sanyal. You’ll had shot for some Digjam commercials long time back and I have heard countless stories about you from him (even how you’r agent signed ‘some’ guy for the music of “Bandit Queen”.)
I just arrived at your blog and was rather humored to see the grapevine working at its best. You really do have some very strong actors acting in the movie that you are NOT making. Its only when the grapevine becomes the ‘gravevine’ will we get somewhere with everything. I too am deeply into cinema and I run a small little blog called cinema-and-me.blogspot.com. I would be honoured if the maker of “Bandit Queen”, “Elizabeth” and “Mr. India” could peruse through some of the articles that I have posted.
With warm regards,
Subhojit Sanyal
Shekhar I have been a big fan of your’s
since I watched the Holly-Bolly Mixed Comedy
“The Guru” which was one of your co-productions if I am not wrong.
Well “Buddha” would be a delight to watch.
Brad Pitt. You’re my much loved actor since I saw you in “Legend of the Falls” in the theater in 1994. Since Oct. 2007, I’ve convinced that you’re my favorite actor for the rest of my life. I thought you should’ve won an Oscar for playing Tristan in “Legend of the Falls”.