Hanuman with Hollywood stars

Monday, July 09, 2007
NRI industrialist Uru Patel's ambitious project Hanuman is getting bigger by the day. Patel, who is based in Los Angeles, is determined to fulfill the dream of his late brother Raju Patel who wanted to make a film on Hanuman, roughly meant to be a modern-day interpretation of the famous Hindu epic Ramayana.

Realizing his late brother's dream, Uru Patel has roped in Hollywood director Luis Mendoki to direct the movie. Hollywood's Keanu Reeves and Bollywood's Shilpa Shetty have reportedly been signed to play lord Rama and his consort Sita. Indian actor Aseem Merchant will play Rama's younger brother Laxman. Now, latest reports have it that Kevin Costner will play the part of the demonic Ravana.

Moreover, since the movie will be a contemporary interpretation of Ramayana, the names of the characters will be altered. According to reports, Ravana will be renamed Robert Ravon, while Laxman will be called Lucky.

It is still not clear as to who will play the title role of Hanuman in the film. Rumours have had it that the role was previously offered to Jackie Chan, but he turned it down. There are some reports that suggest that a young Chinese actor named Cheun Young has been finalized for the part.

There is as yet no confirmation of this by Uru Patel who is keeping extremely secretive about the project. Sources close to the project are quoted as saying that Keanu Reeves was chosen to play the part of Lord Rama because his angelic face can easily pass off for a deity. By the way, Keanu Reeves played Lord Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci's movie Little Buddha.