Mumbai: He's one of the Hollywood sci-fi movie veterans. Known for stunt-heavy potboilers like The Empire Strikes Back, Robocop and the Sean Connery-starrer Never Say Never Again, veteran filmmaker Irvin Kershner has come to India and is on a lookout for a leading lady for his upcoming crossover film.
He may be on his first trip to India currently, but Kershner says he shares an old bond with India. Satyajit Ray, he says was an old friend, one with whom he had a lasting friendship.
"I met Satyajit Ray when he came to Hollywood and screened Pather Panchali. We all loved the movie. I invited him over to my place for dinner and we talked. Later, he made Appu Sandar. One day he told me that he wanted to make a sci-fi film. That’s how I know him,” Kershner says.
Kershner's new film The Princess and the Wizard will be an Indo-West collaboration with actors from India, the UK and Hollywood top-lining the cast.
Hoping to begin production in October, Kershner says the film will be essentially a children's film, but also hopes that it will appeal to adults as well.
After all, he says, it's the universal story of good versus evil, and love conquering all. But he promises that it's the packaging, the treatment and the approach that will be novel.
He hopes to build large palatial sets in Rajasthan, and intends to hire Hyderabad’s Ramoji Rao Fil City studio for the rest of the shoot.
Having cut his teeth on stunt-heavy, special effects films, Kershner is more interested in telling an engaging human story this time round.
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