Hindus urge authentic portrayal of Lord Buddha in upcoming mega-film

Nevada (US), May 11 (ANI)

Welcoming the recent announcement of English language international mega-film on Buddha, Hindus have urged its makers to present an authentic portrayal of his life and times.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Gautama Buddha, besides Buddhists is also revered by Hindus. Reimagining of scriptures and life of Buddha purely for mercantile greed would likely to hurt the devotees.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that they welcomed filmmakers to work on religious themes and figures, but they would recommend them to handle faith related subjects very carefully and sensitively, as cinema was a highly powerful medium.

Apparently the most expensive film ever made in Bollywood, this reportedly about 122 million dollars project, produced by Spice Enfotainment headed by industrialist B. K. Modi and directed by Filmfare Award winner Ashutosh Gowarikar (Lagaan) with a diverse cast and crew, is expected to go on the floor in May 2010 and be completed by the end of the year.

Reportedly scripted by Oscar winner David S. Ward (Sleepless in Seattle) on a book by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, biographical “Buddha” will be shot in the foothills of Himalayas. Spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhists His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama reportedly also has some kind of advisory role with the movie.

Founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha (roughly 568-483 BCE) is also known as Sakyamuni or Siddhartha. Buddha means Wise One or Enlightened One. For Hindus, he was ninth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu (the all-pervader). (ANI)

Spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhists His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama reportedly also has some kind of advisory role with the movie.

It would have been better to give Thich Nhat Hanh an advisory role since it's based on his book.

This is the first i have heard about this movie; it will be interesting to see. The fact that it's being based on Thich Nhat Hanhs book is a good sign.

What struck me about this article was 'Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that they welcomed filmmakers to work on religious themes and figures, but they would recommend them to handle faith related subjects very carefully and sensitively, as cinema was a highly powerful medium.'

I imagine they're worried that the film will portray Gautama as turning his back on/rebelling against Brahmanism, when they would rather see Buddhism portrayed as an extension of Hinduism.

What struck me about this article was 'Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that they welcomed filmmakers to work on religious themes and figures, but they would recommend them to handle faith related subjects very carefully and sensitively, as cinema was a highly powerful medium.'

I imagine they're worried that the film will portray Gautama as turning his back on/rebelling against Brahmanism, when they would rather see Buddhism portrayed as an extension of Hinduism.

I think you're probably right. You can't please everyone when making a film like this!

Hindus have urged its makers to present an authentic portrayal of his life and times.

Good luck with that- archaeological evidence from 6th century India life is scant. If past films are any indicator, they'll probably just slap a bunch of Islamic Mughal costume on a half-farang bollywood star.

6th century BC India is likely very different from what most people imagine- the Buddha and other upper classes may have appeared much more Caucasian considering Indo-European-speaking peoples had just recently migrated into the country from colder climes. I believe the texts even describe him as having blue eyes. The buildings would have been very primitive- just mud-adobe slums. Writing may not even have come from Mesopotamia yet, and Gautama's "palace" would probably look more like a makeshift timbered fort rather than the taj-mahal or khmer prasat people imagine.

They probably want the Buddha portrayed as a god - the 9th incarnation of vishnu etc!