Ash to play Mumtaz Mahal

Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai will star in a movie by Ben Kingsley on the making of the Taj Mahal, India's famous marble monument to love, a report said on Thursday.

The movie is likely to be filmed next year in Agra that is home to the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal, recently voted one of the new seven wonders of the world, was built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1654 for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Soon after its completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son and imprisoned at the nearby Agra Fort.

"The movie is on the building of the Taj Mahal,'' said Kingsley, who is producing the film. "The romance will also include Shah Jahan's isolation for years in a prison cell.''

Kingsley added that he had spoken to Ash about the project while filming The Last Legion with her.

�She very generously agreed to do the movie with me. My production house is working with a screenwriter on the project. I have very clear ideas about how I want to approach the subject.� Kingsley is quoted as saying.

The movie will be shot in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. The shooting will begin next year.

Ben was born Krishna Bhanji in Britain. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was of Indian descent.

Kingsley won the best-actor Oscar for Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi'' in the 1980s. He is well known in India for his portrayal of the independence leader and champion of nonviolence.

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