Karan Razdan wishes to cast the actor as the epic character in his film. Filmmakers give their take on his choice....

Ananth Mahadevan

Is this film really being made? It’s just in Karan’s wish-list to cast Abhishek. Do you know that you cannot show Buddha after he attains nirvana in a film? The Buddhists don’t allow it.

So, at the most you are restricted to doing documentaries. Even Bertolucci wanted to make a film on Buddha. But all he ended up making is Little Buddha.

I too wanted to make a TV serial on him. But we dropped it after we learnt that Buddha’s face post-enlightenment cannot be shown. So, can you make a film with Abhishek as Buddha and not show his face in the last half hour?

Tanuja Chandra

People know Buddha mostly through sculptures of that period. You and I haven’t seen gods; it’s more like what we imagine. Buddha left home to meditate and for anyone to do that, one has to have great grit. Abhishek is charismatic and a good actor. I think he can suit the role.

Madhur Bhandarkar

Abhishek is a talented actor. I am sure he will be able to fit into that role. Every director has his perspective and his individual ideas. The director will definitely work on the structure and look of the character.