Ash’s ‘Taj Mahal’ being re-scripted

When director Bharatbala’s Aishwarya Rai-starrer ‘Taj Mahal - The Heart of India’, promoted as the first IMAX movie in this country, was launched three years ago, it seemed a very enthusiastic project. Sadly, that was not to be. In three years, the film still remains incomplete.

And now, half way through, the film might see another probable delay - this time, it is not the ‘busy-as-bee’ Rai who’s creating trouble. It’s the script which has played the spoilsport. Reportedly the script will be re-worked before the remaining 40% of the film is shot.

“Bharatbala wanted the script in a specific manner. He is worried because the film has already gone beyond the scheduled time. He wants to redo the script and is hopeful of completing it in a year,” says a source. Director Bharatbala says that he wants to achieve a certain “level of perfection.”

But with so many films in her kitty, will Rai spare dates now? “She is an extremely professional actor. We are doing the script again because it is for the betterment of the movie,” reasons Bharatbala, who plans to start the shooting next year in Rajasthan and Agra and release it a few months after that.

With Akbar Khan’s ‘Taj Mahal- An Eternal Love Story’ releasing this month, Bharatbala isn’t unnerved. “Our film is more about passion and love. It doesn’t really delve incisively into Mughal politics and focuses primarily on relationships,” clarifies the director. Shot on large-scale IMAX format, the image quality of this film is eight stories high with a wrap-around 12,000-watt digital sound.