Akbar Khan's CHANGEZ KHAN, will be in English

Filmmaker Akbar Khan has decided to make his next historical epic, CHANGEZ KHAN, in English. "I have deliberately chosen to make it an English language film because I want to prove that English language films aren't merely the domain of Hollywood producers. Indian producers are equally capable of making quality English language productions with the same technical finesse and special effects," he reveals.

Khan has already started research on the film and is planning to assemble an international cast for the film. "I am hoping to rope in some prominent Hollywood names in it," he reveals, adding that the film will be shot in Mongolia, Uzbekistan and several other places in the world. The interesting part of the film though is his decision to present the ruthless Mongol king in an altogether different light. Says Khan, "We only know him as a villain, whose quest for power made him an autocratic dictator. Few of us know that he was also a great visionary who built palaces, edifices and bridges."

CHANGEZ KHAN will commence shooting sometime in December 2006, according to Khan. Meanwhile, the small detour that Khan had initially planned with another film, TAXI DRIVER, has now been postponed for a later date.

Prithvi Vallabh

1943-Period Film


PLOT DESCRIPTION
Sohrab Modi directs this lavish period drama adapted from a book by K.M. Munshi. Prithvi Vallabh (Modi) is the kind and just king of Avantipur, who has won successive battles against his dark-hearted fellow sovereign Tailangan. The evil king eventually succeeds in capturing his rival through the devious schemes of his bull-headed sister, Mrinalvati (Durga Khote). Yet when Mrinalvati tries to humiliate Prithvi Vallabh in public, she finds that she has fallen in love with him. When Prithvi Vallabh escapes from prison he tries to find his love, only to learn that Mrinalvati has betrayed him. The good king is subsequently sentenced to be trampled to death by elephants. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Don't forget Aśoka.
BTW, Mughal-E-Azam is not non-fiction. My mom and her friend were talking about it one day and a lot of the history in it has been corrupted. Plus the Mughals were mongoloid, the actor is caucasoid

i highly recommend this:

The Immortal Story of Dr. Kotnis, directed by V Shantaram

Jahangir's wife and Shah Jahan's mother was also a Rajput.

How embarassing! ...I didn't know that.
And that just disregards the misconception that the Rajput gene is only dominant in the father figure.
Sorry, it's just something I've heard among other people around me.

SIKANDER - 1941


Starring
Prithviraj Kapoor, Sohrab Modi, Vanmala

Story and Lyrics
Sudarshan

Cinematography
Y.D. Sarpotdar

Music
Mir Saheb, Rafiq Ghaznavi

Produced by
Minerva Movietone

Directed by
Sohrab Modi



Synopsis

The film is set in 326 B.C. when Alexander the Great aka Sikander (Kapoor) having conquered Persia and the Kabul valley descends to the Indian Border at Jhelum. King Porus (Modi) stops the advance with his troops. Sikander ignores his teacher Aristotle's advice and falls for a Persian woman Rukhsana (Vanmala). Fearing for Sikander's life she extracts a promise from Porus that he will not harm Sikander. In the battle with the Macedonian army Porus loses his son and is captured. An elaborate verbal duel follows in court when Porus is brought before Sikander. Impressed by Porus's valour, the two kings become friends. Sikander lets Porus go and withdraws from the Jhelum.

The film

Sikander was the greatest success of Minerva Movietone, which specialized, in historic spectacles. Its lavish mounting, huge sets and production values equals the Best of Hollywood then particularly for its rousing and spectacular battle scenes and was rated by a British writer as...

"…well up to the standard of that old masterpiece The Birth of a Nation."

The film follows pure Parsee theatre using frontal composition and staging the narrative in spatial layers. Its dramatic, declamatory dialogues give both Prithviraj Kapoor and Sohrab Modi free reign to their histrionic proclivities. It is Prithviraj's best known performance. He makes a handsome, dashing Sikander and the film heightens his enduring reputation for playing royalty, enhanced further by his role as Akbar in Mughal-e-Azam (1960).

The release of the film coincided with World War II at its peak and in India too the political atmosphere was tense, following Gandhiji's call to Civil Disobedience. Sikander further aroused patriotic feelings and national sentiment. Thus though Sikander was approved by the Bombay censor board, it was later banned from some of the theatres serving army cantonments. However its appeal to nationalism was so great and direct, it remained popular for years. It was revived in Delhi in 1961 during the Indian March into Goa.

You're a Rajput too right. I know you are because you've said it like a hundred times.

I think only the paternal lineage (father's genes) counted when considering someone's ethnicity (which was probably the same for Rajputs). That's probably how it was like for most ethnicities.

Jahangir (Salim) was 1/2 Rajput and Shah Jahan was 3/4 Rajput, but they were always considered Mughals rather than Rajputs, because they only cared about their paternal lineage.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the Mughals were descendants of both Timur the Lame and Genghis Khan, so they do have distant Mongolian origins.

Is there any movie about Yoga? And the Mahabhrata?

Yes, who wants to take this lovely Indian larki home to momma?

Even though her dad was half-Indian, her granfather was full Indian. So, that would make both of them be counted by his lineage only. Yes, who wants to take this lovely Indian larki home to momma?
Some Rajputs still expect both parents to be Rajputs, in order to be counted as one. I think the Gharasia tribe is made up of Rajput males inter-marrying with tribal lower-caste females. They're not accepted into the mainstream Rajput community.

Some people don't accept Preity Zinta either, since her caste was created by Rajputs inter-marrying with the British. But, the Zinta consider themselves Rajputs more than British.

Me-I dont' give a sh*t. Call yourself African if you want.

Is there any movie about Yoga? And the Mahabhrata?

I second request that lol! But Yogas just a peice of art, I dont think thered be a movie on it? Bt, i havent seen Asoka, but I think itd be lot better than lagaan or magal pandey, cuz those two bored the hell outta me ..but Asoka looks SO good!!

Call yourself African if you want.

THE MAHABHARATA
was written by Rishi Ved Vyasa, during the avatar of Lord Krishna and is the longest poem in the world containing 100,000 stanzas. The Bhagavad Gita is a part of this monumental work. It encompasses all aspects of human nature from the utterly base to the completely divine.

Producer-director Dr. B.R. Chopra, one of India eminent filmmakers has captured the magnificence, the grandeur and drama of this epic. It consists of 94 episodes totaling of 65 hours.

Does Preity Zinta really have some British descent? Where did you hear that from?

There was a TV series on Mahabharata.

Which ethnicities focus on the mom's lineage only? My friend said Kerala is very matrilineal.
Preity said this in an interview.

http://www.bollywhat.com/Biographies/PREITY_bio.html
But those who are in the know are aware that her ancestors were true blue British. In the early 18th century, when the Rajputs had earned a reputation for 'killing for their honour', marital alliances between the two races became quite common. Thus emerged the Zinta clan. That's quite a pedigree: a mix of British and Rajput blood.
I added her name under "famous Rajputs" in wikipedia, and it kept getting deleted.

What is the Mahabharata about? Can u elaborate further on the plot?

[Rajput girl from Shimla]

she doesnt belong to simla? I guess she only had her high school in simla.
My cousin is in same school where she used to be. I am sure she belongs to Rajasthan. Well never listened/read about foreign mix in preity.

Her roots are Rajasthani, if that's what you mean. But, I think her family settled in Himachal Pradesh...ndnboi said that too also, I think. He knows his stuff.