Ashutosh's Rs600 crore Buddha!

It seems that Ashutosh Gowariker is getting bigger day by day. If the buzz in the industry is to be believed, he might make one of the most expensive films ever.

Industrialist BK Modi has been planning a mega-budget international film on Buddha for quite some time. It's been his most ambitious project and he's been in talks with big names like Deepak Chopra and the Dalai Lama to translate it on screen. For the director's chair, Shekhar Kapur's name had come up but things didn't work out. Now, he is reviving the project once again and this time he is in talks with Ashutosh Gowariker.

Says a source, "After watching Ashutosh's past three films like Lagaan, Swades and Jodha Akbar, he was very impressed with him, especially the way he handles period dramas. Since the film is a mega-budget one, Ashutosh would be an apt choice considering his mastery over big budget films. If the deal works out, it would be a great accomplishment for Ashutosh for the simple fact that it's a huge international project in terms of its budget, subject and exposure. It would simply be one of the most expensive films too, exceeding Rs 600 crore easily."

The project is supposed to be based on the book Old Path White Clouds by the renowned Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Translated into more than twenty languages and drawn from various sources, the book traces the life of Gautam Buddha, gently seen through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy who provided kusha grass for the Buddha's enlightenment cushion, and through the eyes of Buddha himself.

Further to several text messages to Ashutosh, he remained unavailable for comment.