Courtesy:
Glamsham
Monday,
August
06,
2007
Shyam
Benegal's
forthcoming
film
will
not
be
in
Hindi
but
in
Pali
language,
as
it
is
based
on
life
of
Gautam
Buddha.
Named
as
Gautam
Buddha
this
film
will
be
funded
by
the
Sri
Lankan
government
and
will
be
entirely
shot
in
Sri
Lanka.
Benegal's
film
deals
with
the
life
of
Gautam
Buddha
and
Buddhism,
which
was
first
taken
to
Sri
Lanka
from
India
by
Emperor
Asoka's
son
Mahendra.
Dr.
B.K.
Modi
of
the
Mahabodhi
Society
approached
Dr.
Chandraprakash
Dwivedi
to
make
a
film
on
Buddha.
Dr.
Dwivedi
informs
that
India
and
Sri
Lanka
share
a
very
special
relation
when
it
comes
to
Buddhism
and
that
is
one
reason
to
Sri
Lankan
government
funding
the
project.
Dr.
Dwivedi
further
explains
that
Modi
asked
him
to
co-direct
this
movie
but
is
now
happy
to
know
that
it
will
be
directed
by
Shyam
Benegal.
It
is
believed
that
the
same
film
was
supposed
to
be
directed
by
the
filmmaker
Shekhar
Kapoor
earlier
who
decided
to
opt
out
because
of
some
differences.
Interestingly,
Dr.
Modi
had
also
approached
Mira
Nair
to
make
the
film
on
Buddha
in
the
early
'90s.