Indian student cast as lead in Life of Pi adaptation
Director Ang Lee searched throughout the country for the right face before choosing the 17-year-old Indian student.
NEW DELHI:
A 17-year-old Indian student with no acting experience has beaten off 3,000 other young hopefuls to play the lead role in the film adaptation of Yann Martel’s award winning novel, Life of Pi.
Suraj Sharma, whose parents are both mathematicians in Delhi, was picked by director Ang Lee after a months-long search during which thousands of people auditioned for the part, according to a press release issued by Fox studios.
“Casting the 16-year-old Pi was particularly challenging,” said Lee, who directed the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. “We searched throughout India for a young man who had the innocence to capture our attention, the depth of character to break our hearts and the physicality needed to embody Pi on his journey,” he said.
Lee said Sharma had shown he could convey emotion just through his eyes and had natural ability that was “a rare treasure”.
According to reports, Lee has also cast Dabangg star Sonu Sood as Pi’s father in the film, which is the second-most pivotal role in the plot. Lee personally called Sood after watching his work, suggested a meeting and the two met two weeks ago. “Yes, I’ve met Ang Lee for a major role in Life of Pi (but) I can’t say anything about it at the moment. He had seen my work before meeting me. I must say it was a huge privilege meeting Ang Lee, such a great filmmaker and so humble,” said Sood.
Life of Pi, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2002, tells the story of Pi Patel as he travels from a zoo in India across the Pacific, where he survives a shipwreck and is cast adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for company.
The 3D film is being shot in India and Taiwan and is scheduled for release in December 2012.
Lee announced in November 2009 that he would direct the adaptation. Several big-name directors have been attached to the project over the years, including M Night Shyamalan and Alfonso Cuaron.
The highly awaited Life of Pi may be a turning point in Sharma’s life, as the Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire was for the then unknown Frieda Pinto and small-time actor Dev Patel. Pinto won a Screen Actors Guild Award while Patel won a Critics’ Choice Award as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for many others for his work in the film.
Since then Pinto has gone on to work in Woody Allen’s comedy-drama film, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, director Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Greek epic Immortals and Rise of the Apes which is a prequel to Planet of the Apes.
Patel starred in M Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender and is due to star in a short film, The Commuter, directed by the McHenry Brothers.
From print to the silver screen
Bollywood and Hollywood filmmakers have adapted novels to produce films with Indian cast members.
With additional information from news desk
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2010.
A 17-year-old Indian student with no acting experience has beaten off 3,000 other young hopefuls to play the lead role in the film adaptation of Yann Martel’s award winning novel, Life of Pi.
Suraj Sharma, whose parents are both mathematicians in Delhi, was picked by director Ang Lee after a months-long search during which thousands of people auditioned for the part, according to a press release issued by Fox studios.
“Casting the 16-year-old Pi was particularly challenging,” said Lee, who directed the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. “We searched throughout India for a young man who had the innocence to capture our attention, the depth of character to break our hearts and the physicality needed to embody Pi on his journey,” he said.
Lee said Sharma had shown he could convey emotion just through his eyes and had natural ability that was “a rare treasure”.
According to reports, Lee has also cast Dabangg star Sonu Sood as Pi’s father in the film, which is the second-most pivotal role in the plot. Lee personally called Sood after watching his work, suggested a meeting and the two met two weeks ago. “Yes, I’ve met Ang Lee for a major role in Life of Pi (but) I can’t say anything about it at the moment. He had seen my work before meeting me. I must say it was a huge privilege meeting Ang Lee, such a great filmmaker and so humble,” said Sood.
Life of Pi, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2002, tells the story of Pi Patel as he travels from a zoo in India across the Pacific, where he survives a shipwreck and is cast adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for company.
The 3D film is being shot in India and Taiwan and is scheduled for release in December 2012.
Lee announced in November 2009 that he would direct the adaptation. Several big-name directors have been attached to the project over the years, including M Night Shyamalan and Alfonso Cuaron.
The highly awaited Life of Pi may be a turning point in Sharma’s life, as the Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire was for the then unknown Frieda Pinto and small-time actor Dev Patel. Pinto won a Screen Actors Guild Award while Patel won a Critics’ Choice Award as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for many others for his work in the film.
Since then Pinto has gone on to work in Woody Allen’s comedy-drama film, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, director Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Greek epic Immortals and Rise of the Apes which is a prequel to Planet of the Apes.
Patel starred in M Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender and is due to star in a short film, The Commuter, directed by the McHenry Brothers.
From print to the silver screen
Bollywood and Hollywood filmmakers have adapted novels to produce films with Indian cast members.
- Aisha - Jane Austen’s Emma
- 3 Idiots - Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone
- Slumdog Millionaire - Vikas Swarup’s Q&A
- The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake
- The Mistress of Spices - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices
With additional information from news desk
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2010.