Maker of Bollywood epic on Taj Mahal hopes to capture marble

Maker of Bollywood epic on Taj Mahal hopes to capture marble
monument's soul[

[ AP Photos XAR101-102

Ramola Talwar
Associated Press/Bombay, India

A Bollywood epic about the Taj Mahal releasing worldwide on
Friday seeks to capture the pervading romance of the world famous
monument to love, director Akbar Khan said.

Khan said he lived and dreamed the movie with thoughts of
Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan vowing at his dying wife Mumtaz's
bedside to build a monument in which she could sleep eternally.

"I felt there was a soul in the mausoleum, a heartbeat inside
every marble slab," Khan told The Associated Press late Thursday.

"There's a murmur that follows visitors through the Taj."

He began researching the movie five years ago and filming
started in 2002 with a new face, a French-Pakistani, playing the
lead role of Mogul Empress Mumtaz Mahal.

Located in Agra near the capital New Delhi, the marble
mausoleum that has become the face of India's tourism industry
was built by Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1654.

Khan said his two-hour, 40-minute movie, Taj Mahal -- An
Eternal Love Story, was a mixture of history and entertainment
with eight song and dance numbers.

Elaborate sets were crafted inside an ancient fort in
northwestern Rajasthan state and battle scenes were shot with men
in armor wielding swords astride horses, elephants and camels.

Actors were costumed in rich, embroidered outfits with heavy
jewelry.

"We leased out a fort for three years and constructed colossal
sets," he said. "The movie is fully packed with entertainment and
history."

Apart from the 19-year marriage of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, who
died from complications arising from the birth of their 14th
child, the movie also tells the tale of the Mogul empire.

It dwells on ambition, intrigue and rivalry for the throne in
an era when brothers fought each other and sons rebelled against
their fathers for power.

But Indian newspapers are filled with pictures of French
citizen Sonia Jehan, who plays Mumtaz.

"I was extremely scared. I said I'd love to work but I didn't
want the lead role," said Jehan, who has a French mother,
Pakistani father and lives in France and Britain. "I had no
training in acting so didn't think I could pull it off."

Jehan said she dreamed of being a Bollywood actress as a child
when she saw Indian movies while visiting her grandmother in
Pakistan. Her dream turned into reality when she was introduced
by a family friend to Khan, then scouting for talent.

She completed her degree at London's St. Martin's College of
Art and Design before coming to India for the film three years
ago.

"It was a huge challenge because the only acting I had done
before was in school plays," said Jehan, who like many South
Asians trained in classical singing and dance.

Khan said he specifically wanted a first-time actor. "I wanted
the audience to see her as a character of the time. I didn't want
an established actor bringing her image into the film."

The Hindi-language version will be released across India
Friday along with a limited release in Britain, the United
States, Canada and South Africa. It will be released two weeks
later in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Fiji.
The English version will be out in two months along with versions
in Arabic, Persian, French and German.

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On the Net:
Taj Mahal: http://www.akbarkhanstajmahal.com/

GetAP 1.00 -- NOV 18, 2005 12:04:29