The Return Of The Thief (of Baghdad)-CHIRANJEEVI to star.
The thief returns
Cinema: Hollywood sequel to The Thief of Baghdad is being shot entirely on location in India
E. Vijayalakshmi
The office of director Douchan Gersi in Chennai is a study in colour contrasts. While one wall is painted a vibrant blue, the other walls are dominated by reds and yellows.
"I liked the elements of love, friendship,good and evil in this story."--Douchon Gersi
The director is in a pale gold silk kurta with a prominent red bead necklace around his neck. "I feel so much at home in India. I love its vibrant film industry," he says. "Films in the west are monochrome. Here they are multi-hued." The project he is working on now,The Return of the Thief of Baghdad is to be shot entirely on location in India and will star Telugu actor Chiranjeevi.
The Thief of Baghdad, released in 1940, enchanted moviegoers and won four out of the five Oscars it was nominated for. It detailed the adventures of Abu, a thief and prince Ahmed, the banished king of Baghdad who was blinded by his wicked vizier, Jaffer. Essaying Abu's role was Sabu, the elephant boy from India.
The Return is based on a novel by Sabu's daughter Jasmine. The story has Abu, now a mature adventurer, rescuing the princess and the kingdom of Basran from the evil machinations of Khaled, the neighbouring king. The cast has Charlotte Ayanna as the princess and Omar Sharif.
"This story has universal appeal, there's love, adventure, magic, music, good and evil," says K. Ramesh, the founder of the US-based event promotion company, Indus Inc., which is producing this $10 million film.
Gersi is an avid explorer, anthropologist and film-maker and was looking for a project to mark his debut in feature films when Jasmine called him with the story almost three years ago. "I liked the elements of love, friendship, good and evil," he says. "I have many children and I am keeping them in mind while writing the script".
For the location Gersi chose India over Morocco and Turkey "because of its vibrant colours and because I wanted to share India with others". Gersi is an old India hand, he did stints here while making documentaries like The Wheel of Karma, Journal from India and Where is Truth?.....
the-week.com
Chiranjeevi
'...Chiranjeevi is well known for his commercial hits in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. He acted a few films in Hindi Got fans there too....
clarkson.edu
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