Andhra Talk: People's Talk On Hollywood 'Hanuman'

It's really grand news to note that Ramayanam is going Hollywood . Uru Patel, an NRI is producing this film on large scale win which Lord Rama is going to be portrayed by Matrix fame, Keenu Reeves and Sita by Shilpa Setty. Asim Merchant is being considered for the role of Laxmana which si yet to be confirmed. The film is going to be centered on 'Hanuman' where the actor to play this role is yet to be finalized.

There were many Greek and Roman mythological films made on various Hollywood banners but the Hindu mythology hasn't touched till now in big way. Although there were a few references to the scenes in the films like 'King Solomon's Islands ', they were made with ignorance and lack of proper knowledge. In the film 'King Solomon's Islands', the idol of Nataraj was shown as evil spirit. There was no big check on it in those days and it went unnoticed by many. There would be few such scenes in Hollywood films of the past. But now with a motive to spread the moral grandeur of Ramayana, Uru Patel is making this attempt that should be appreciated.

Let us see what people say about this Indian attempt on Hollywood for showing Ramayana.

"It is good to know about this. The present day kids are aware of Harry Potter and Spider Man but hardly know about Indian epic heroes. The best medium to show them is Cinema. The kids are not comfortable with old mythological films but they want something trendy. So Hollywood proves to be the right platform. If the film is made in international standards, kids may forget Spider Man and others and switch over their favoritism to Hanuman. It is not just for Indian kids but internationally also", says Ramadevi, an Elementary school teacher.

"Ramayana runs with more fiction than that of Greek Mythology. That would certainly entertain kids. But at the same time logic has to be maintained while canning in some scenes to convince the elders who expose to this epic for first time. If fiction dominates the film, people may turn down. Today many are looking out for more reasoning and not compromising with whatever is being shown. So the script work should be target oriented. If targeting the kids, it can be like Narnia or if it is for elder groups then it should be like Wolfgang Peterson's ' Troy'", says Ajay Raju, an Assistant script writer of Telugu films.

"Troy popularized the Roman mythology across the world. The crispy way of making the film appealed for all word wide and Indians enjoyed it a lot and learnt the characters and their behavior as well. Same opportunity is to be given with Ramayana and characters in it as well", says Surender Kumar, a distributor.

Let us see how far our mythology makes its way in international film world.