Jesus Christ, Bollywood star

JERUSALEM - Cecil B. DeMille has been there as have Roberto Rossellini, Mel Gibson, Franco Zeffirelli and Martin Scorsese.

So maybe it was only a matter of time before Bollywood not only succumbed to the temptation but went one better by making its version in the subject's native land.

Yesterday, India's Aditya Productions unveiled plans for a US$30 million ($42.7 million), two-hour-15-minute biopic which will be shot in the Holy Land and which it said would be "the first ever - in 79 years - Bollywoodian film on the life of Jesus".

Although the picture will mainly feature child actors, it will have a role for the Bollywood megastar Pawan Kalyan - introduced to reporters yesterday as the "darling of millions".

Producer Konda Krishnam Raju said: "It is remarkable that this man [Jesus] who started his mission from a small village became within a short span of three years a force that influenced mankind for over 2000 years and is worshipped by millions of people."

The film will be made in English, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam with shooting starting next month.

Although fewer than 3 per cent of Indians are Christians, Kalyan explained: "There are millions of people in India who follow Christianity. There is a great tolerance for other religions; there is a great audience for such a film in India."

The actor described how six months before he was approached for a part in it, his 5-year-old son hurt his knee in a fall.

"The first thing that came into my mind was mother Mary and what she must have been through seeing her son [on the cross]."

As a result, he explained, when the producers contacted him about the film, "I felt a kind of connectivity with it."

Kalyan said there would be music but not "song and dance like in other Bollywood films".

Having been given the go-ahead to film in Israel they are also applying to the Palestinian Authority to film in Bethlehem and Jericho.

- INDEPENDENT