Amitabh Bachchan to play King Lear : Bollywood News : ApunKaChoice.Com


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Amitabh Bachchan to play King Lear
08th Mar 2007 20.39 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh

It is a role that demands an actor of stature as great as Amitabh Bachchan .

For centuries Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear has fascinated theatre artists and actors. Now Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh is said to be planning to make a movie on the play.

However, the movie will not be a direct adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, but will be based on an adapted play called ‘Aajker Shahjahan’ by Bengali actor Utpal Dutt.

Very briefly, ‘King Lear’ tells the story of an ageing king who has three daughters. The king decides to abdicate the throne and divide his kingdom between his three daughters. But before doing so he holds a contest in which he asks his daughters to demonstrate their affection towards him in speech. While the two elder daughters speak volumes about their love for the king, the youngest daughter (who loves King the most) refuses to say anything because she feels words would belittle her emotions. The King eventually divides the kingdom between his two elder daughters and banishes the youngest one. Ironically, when the two daughters come into power they turn cold towards the king.

Like any other Shakespearean tragedy, the story of King Lear has a universal appeal.

Rituparno Ghosh’s movie will star Amitabh Bachchan as the ageing King Lear. Preity Zinta , Divya Dutta and Shefali Shah will play his three daughters. Preity will understandably play the youngest daughter. The movie also stars Arjun Rampal .

Planman Motion Pictures, run by Arindham Choudhary, will produce the film.

According to Choudhary, Mr. Bachchan’s towering personality makes him perfectly suited for the role of King Lear.

The movie will reportedly be made in English language.

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Amitabh Bachchan
Rituparno Ghosh
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