The holy link: (From Top) Shekhar Kapur, Richard Gere, Goldie Hawn

Calcutta, Sept. 27: After The Passion of the Christ, it may be the turn of the power of the Buddha to sweep the world of cinema.

And if things go according to the script, the $50-million grand period drama will be directed by Shekhar Kapur.

The seed money of around $10 million will be put in by industrialist Bhupendra Kumar Modi, who was elected president of the Mahabodhi Society of India yesterday.

?I wanted to make a film on the Buddha for the last 17 years,? said Modi. ?A couple of months ago, director Shekhar Kapur approached me saying that he wanted to make a commercial Hollywood film on the life and teachings of the Buddha. Shekhar?s father was my paediatric and I knew him well. So his proposal was a dream come true. I just told him that we have to go to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama for his blessings before we embark on the project.?

Kapur and Modi met the Dalai Lama for more than an hour at his home in Dharamsala in the first week of September. The Elizabeth man went on to meet other prominent Tibetan leaders, including the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje and the prime minister of the Tibetan government in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche.

?The Dalai Lama not only provided his valuable suggestions for the script but he has also written to his famous disciples from Hollywood to extend professional assistance for this mega movie project,? announced Modi, chairman of MCorp Global, based in New Delhi.

In an email to the erstwhile ModiTelstra man, Tenzin Geyche Tethong wrote from the office of His Holiness: ?I have written to Mr Richard Gere, Ms Sharon Stone, Melissa Mathison and Goldie Hawn, some of the people in Hollywood that have been actively involved in Tibetan affairs and have briefly explained about your project to produce a film on the Buddha with Mr Shakar Kapoor (sic).?

When contacted in Mumbai, Kapur was tight-lipped about the project. ?We have just started talking and it?s too early to talk about the project. If the fusion (with Modi) does happen, I will come out in the open with the film.?

At the moment, Kapur is working on three projects. Besides the Buddha film, there?s Paani, a love story set in Mumbai 20 years hence when scarcity of water will lead to wars between those who have it and those who don?t. And finally there?s Golden Age, ?a sequel to Elizabeth?, which focuses on the Virgin Queen?s middle years on the throne and the battle with the Spanish Armada. ?We are working on all the scripts and I cannot start a film without a ready script in my hand. And a script can take six months to write or even six years,? said Kapur.

Modi though claimed that the Buddha film would be shot next year and would be ready by end-2005, coinciding with the celebrations of the 2550th birth anniversary of Buddha.

?Spiritual self-help guru Deepak Chopra is helping out with the script and we are in talks with Sony for the worldwide distribution of the film. Primarily targeted at the 15-25 audience, the film will be shot in India and highlight every individual?s struggle to be happy in this world,? concluded Modi.