Hollywood to rebuild the Taj Mahal

Hollywood might soon have its own Taj Mahal. A production house is set to recreate the iconic monument of love at its state-of-the-art studio for a movie starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan. Sir Ben, who is making an ambitious movie on the Taj, has foresighted a logistical problem that might prevent the crew from shooting the project entirely in India.

The Indian Government has always declined requests from film-makers to allow them to shoot within the premises of the Taj Mahal. Several movies, including the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, only got a long shot of the Taj Mahal. This is due to the constant security and terror threat that the monument faces. So photography of any form is prohibited inside the Taj Mahal. A source says, “Sir Ben is bent on shooting the film in India and especially in the Taj Mahal. But he knows getting permission will be difficult as the government is strict about filming the Taj. So, he is already looking for an alternative. Sir Ben is ready to recreate the Taj at a Hollywood studio. A research team will exactly brief the set designers about the elements from the insides of the Taj so that they can create a near-perfect replica.”Sir Ben says, “I am looking forward to coming down and shooting in India. I  am sure that would be a great experience and we will look at the logistics of it. I want to shoot the entire movie in India but it looks like shooting in the Taj might not be all that easy. In that case, we will look to do those portions in a studio in Hollywood.”