Canada-based Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's epic film on Komagata Maru incident will be delayed as the director is planning to complete her adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children first.
"We hope to start shooting by next fall. We are looking at some actors and some have been decided. But I can confirm that Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das and Seema Biswas will be there in the film," Mehta told PTI.
"We just finished the screenplay and Salman is very happy with it. It is one of the most beautiful books ever written," she said.
The actress will bring together Shabana and Nandita together after her first film Fire in 1998. "They (Shabana, Nandita and Seema) are not just my favourites because they are not only good actors but they are right for the parts. I like to cast actors who I feel are right for the characters."
When asked about her film on the Komagata Maru incident, which stars Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, Mehta said, "I am making the movie on Komagata Maru incident after Midnights children. It will be the 100th anniversary of the incident in 2014 so we start shooting 2013."
Komagata Maru, a Japanese ship, was hired by a Malaysia-based Sikh Gurdit Singh to bring Indians into Canada in violation of the then racist laws but the ship which had 376 Indians onboard was not allowed to anchor in Vancouver. It was sent back to India where more than 20 Indians were killed when the British government tried to arrest Singh.
{{/usCountry}}Komagata Maru, a Japanese ship, was hired by a Malaysia-based Sikh Gurdit Singh to bring Indians into Canada in violation of the then racist laws but the ship which had 376 Indians onboard was not allowed to anchor in Vancouver. It was sent back to India where more than 20 Indians were killed when the British government tried to arrest Singh.
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