Showing posts with label Mukul Misra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mukul Misra. Show all posts
Check out Shazahn Padamsee with 'The Lama' Mahesh Bhatt on Siddhartha sets
7:48 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 5, 2015)
Producer-director Mahesh Bhatt who makes his acting debut as 'The Lama' in Siddhartha, a modern take on the life of Gautama Buddha, says he only agreed to face the camera because of his love for the debutant director, Mukul Mihra. "He shot the film on my terms, he is a younger version of me in many ways," he asserts.
Bhatt liked Mishra's brave script and unique approach to a story of historical significance. He insists that when he was playing a Buddhist monk, he was in his own skin and it didn't feel like he was acting. "But I've realised that I'm not an actor and I will never be seen on screen again," he asserted.
Since, the 66-year-old filmmaker could not travel to Manali to shoot with the young cast, the makers built a monastery duplicating the statue of the 'Golden Buddha' in Mumbai. The film revolves around a young man who leaves his city and sets out on a path of self-discovery.
"My character Nidhi who is a practicing Buddhist solves Siddhartha's problems and a love story blossoms between him and me," says Shazahn Padamsee who plays Bhatt's daughter.
She says that the filmmaker reminded her of her own father, Alyque Padamsee, who acted in just one film, Richard Attenborough's Oscar winner Gandhi. "Even though dad keeps getting offers, he's not tempted," says the 27-year old actress.
She recalls how the youngsters would sit around Bhatt and listen to his stories about filmmaking.
And one of his pearls of wisdom was: "The quest of permanence is the bedrock of man's suffering and we have to come to terms with the fact that everything in life is in a state of flux."
Check out Mahesh Bhatt as a Lama in Siddhartha
10:47 AM
BOMBAY TIMES (May 12, 2014)
STEPPING INTO THE FRAME OF SILENCE: Mahesh Bhatt slips into the skin of a Lama in Mukul Misra’s debut film Siddhartha
Within weeks of getting into Buddhism, Shazahn Padamsee lands up a role as a Buddhist
7:48 AM
Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; March 6, 2014)
Mahesh Bhatt will soon be making his acting debut with Mukul Misra’s Siddhartha, in which he plays a Buddhist monk. The story is about a boy who is lost in the brothels of Varanasi and comes to Manali, where he meets Bhatt’s character, who sees Buddha in him and helps find answers to questions he has had. He is at the lowest point in his life when he comes to Manali and it is here that he meets Shazahn Padamsee’s character and falls in love with her. Shazahn, too, is a Buddhist girl, who stays with her father figure Mahesh Bhatt. Talking to us, Shazahn said, “It’s uncanny, but weeks before this offer came to me, one of my childhood friends Simone, suggested that I do chanting and get into Buddhism. I did it for a few weeks and was hit by the stark coincidence, when this film was offered to me.”
Mahesh Bhatt turns actor; to play Buddhist monk and even go bald
7:48 AM
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 21, 2014)
First director and scriptwriter, then producer and now actor. Yes, Mahesh Bhatt is set to make his acting debut as a bald Buddhist monk in debutante director Mukul Misra's Siddhartha.
Shivam Bhargav plays the title role while Shazahn Padamsee is his love interest. The film will be produced by Prabhat Pandey.
“Whether he will actually shave off his hair or use prosthetics is still to be decided,” said debutante director Mukul Misra but confirms that Bhatt is playing Lama in a story of a man's search for truth after his life is shattered by betrayals. “Shivam is lost in the brothels of Varanasi before he goes to Manali where he is found by Bhatt sahab's character who believes that Buddha is in him and helps him to get the answers he was looking for.”
So how did Misra convince Bhatt to face the camera after all these years? “I have worked with him in the past and we have a certain equation. I have a company Trigger Happy Entertainment which makes film promos. We did promos of Aashiqui 2, Jannat 2, and Murder 3. But that’s not why he gave the nod to the project. He liked the role,” said Misra.
Bhatt, when contacted, said, “Yes, I’m doing Siddhartha. I liked Mukul’s narrative and his vision. Buddhism teaches you that everything is transient and I understand it. I think I can do justice to the role. I have met many lamas and had an intense interaction with the Dalai Lama. The story appealed to me and I could corelate with it because like the protagonist I too am always in the quest for answers to life.”
Buzz is, Bhatt leaves for Manali on March 5 for a 10-day schedule. “But get this straight, I am not an actor but a filmmaker, ” he added.
Misra admitted that Bhatt will be almost “anchoring” the film with his inputs on the script and technicalities.
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