‘Sri Siddhartha Gautama’ makers go Hollywood with new ‘Enlightened One– The Buddha’ film

By Divya Thotawatte 

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the award winning film ‘Sri Siddhartha Gautama’, its producers announced a second movie titled ‘Enlightened One – The Buddha’ set to be a collaborative production of Sri Lanka, India and Hollywood. 

The announcement for the new film was made at the screening of ‘Siddhartha Gautama’ held in celebration of its anniversary recently. ‘Enlightened One – the Buddha’ will be produced in partnership with the Light of Asia Foundation and Radiance Films International Chairman Navin Gooneratne, Hollywood Post Production Ambassador and Singer Alston Koch and Indian Actor Gagan Malik. 

Gooneratne said the preproduction process of the film will take place in Sri Lanka while its production will be in India. The post production process including the graphics and sound production will be carried out by the Hollywood Studios in the USA.  “Through this film, we aim to take Sri Lanka’s creative and spiritual image to the world and I urge the corporate sector in the country to invest in this opportunity,” he said. 

Speaking at the event, Koch said, “This is not a religious film but explores the Dharma, the philosophical explorations of Buddhism. We want to convey a message and we can’t do it without the technology and distribution of Hollywood. Therefore, we had to make this film a collaboration of Sri Lanka, India and Hollywood.”

This second film, a sequel to ‘Sri Siddhartha Gautama’, would be filmed primarily at the Buddhavanam Park in the State of Telangana in India. Telangana Government Prohibition and Excise, Sports and Youth Services, Tourism and Culture and Archaeology Minister, Srinivas Goud who attended the event said, “The Buddhavanam Park is Asia’s biggest Buddhist spiritual centre. We are happy to give our ultimate support to the film in view of Telangana’s deep history with Buddhism and with Sri Lanka.” 

The film depicts the life of the Buddhist teacher and religious figure, the Buddha. While the first film portrayed the story of Prince Siddhartha’s renunciation of his domestic life and his journey of becoming the Buddha, ‘Enlightened One – the Buddha’ will follow his life and work as a Buddha. 

Indian Actor Gagan Malik who will play the role of the Buddha in the new film too, spoke about the impact of the previous one on his life. He said playing the character of Prince Siddhartha prompted him to explore and study the experience of ordainment which inspired him to become a monk in Thailand for 99 days, observing the rules and lifestyle of Buddhist ordained monks. This learning experience would therefore also influence his work in the new film. 

Malik said playing the role of the Buddha in the new film is more than a mere accomplishment of his career, it is about providing a good portrayal of the character and suitable presentation of the work and motivations of the religious figure. 

The producers of the film said they aimed to work with 30 investors from the corporate world of Sri Lanka. Organisations or individuals interested in investing may contact the founder or the project manager on the numbers 0777352628 and 0772068774 respectively. 

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe