Ben Kingsley to play Shah Jahan to Aishwarya’s Mumtaz

Actor Ben Kingsley, who won an Oscar for playing Mahatma Gandhi 27 years ago, is back in India.

The actor plans to play Mughal emperor Shah Jahan with Aishwarya Rai as Mumtaz Mahal in the period film Taj.

Kingsley, 65, last worked with Aishwarya, 34, in The Last Legion in 2007.

The actor said his wife Daniela Barbosa de Carneiro would play Shah Jahan’s first wife Kandahari Begum.

Aishwarya told reporters: “During the shooting of The Last Legion, (Kingsley) had shared the idea with me. I have just received the draft of the script and now we are planning to take it forward.”

Kingsley said the focus of the film would be the building of the Taj Mahal and the isolation and loneliness of the man (Shah Jahan) who built it. “All of this is held together by love and the power of love, which transcends the prison cell and even death,” Kingsley said.

The actor plans to start shooting in India from the autumn of 2010. “I am looking for Indian producers and finances for the film,” he said.