oth Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies created box office history, sent cash registers haywire, greedily snatched up of Academy Awards and kept audiences salivating. Now,the producer of these magnum opus epics, Barrie Osbourne, wants to lend his Midas touch to Shekhar Kapoor’s Paani.
The film’s based on a story penned by Kapur himself and the director’s casting Vivek Oberoi in it. The love story is set in Mumbai, 20 years from now, when taps have run dry and wars break out over water.
The crew’s a khichdi of past Hollywood biggies as well. It’s being co-written by Andrew Niccol, Oscar winner for The Truman Show; the production design is by Jill Bilcock (Romeo and Juliet, Elizabeth, Moulin Rouge), nominated for an Oscar for Road to Perdition. Visual effects are by Cinesite in London, that added the magic to the Harry Potter films. The only desi in the credits is music director AR Rahman.
Scheduled to be shot later this year, in both Hindi and English, Paani will be presented by Intent, a company recently launched by spiritual guru Deepak Chopra and Kapur.
Does that mean we’re going to have a Paani 2 and Paani 3 as well?