Writer-director Karan Razdan, whose last two films Eight and Umar failed to ring at the box-office, is readying to return with a mammoth historical film, Buddha.

Says Razdan, "The scripting of Buddha is almost complete. It would be made in English and Hindi. Talks are on with major corporate companies to back the project. It will be an international project from the land where Buddhism originated. It will be more of science fiction and will star Indian, Hollywood and European actors. My friend Shekhar Kapur, who was to make a film on the same subject in Hollywood, has given me few inputs too. The story will begin from the space age and will traverse back 2500 years. It will have special effects too. Incidentally, the year 2007 is regarded as the 2500th anniversary of Buddha."

"Buddha will be a monumental epic. It will have sync sound. We will have cameramen and sound engineers from the west. We are looking for a wider release and at the same time hoping that it goes to Cannes, Venice and other big festivals. As for the casting, Abhishek Bachchan is my first choice to play the role of the Buddha. He has that perfect set of eyes for the role to play Prince Siddhartha who evolves as the Buddha. I am hoping that the film will be launched next year."