Hollywood, Bollywood Stars Welcome Iran: From DiCaprio, Gibson to Padukone
Independent Aggregator of Persian News/Events, Kodoom.com: Sean Penn is no longer the only movie star who can boast about a trip to Iran. Iranian media recently exposed a contract sent by Owj Cinema to Mel Gibson for a possible role in an Iranian film about a Pakistan-based, US-supported terrorists group activities in Iran.
Separately, there are news of Leonardo DiCaprio's travel plans to Tehran. Oscar-winning screenwriter David Franzoni, who wrote the script for the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, has said he would like to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as 13th-century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, and Robert Downey Jr. as the poet's spiritual mentor, Shams of Tabriz. Franzoni said he has already gone to Turkey with producer Stephen Joel Brown to interview Rumi scholars in Istanbul and to visit his protagonist’s mausoleum in Konya, where the Sufi teacher died in old age.
People, including many Iranians, have taken to social media to voice their frustration under the hashtag #RumiWasntWhite.
Separately, as reported on Kodoom.com, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, known for her sultry poses in films and commercials, is being cast, in modest garb (to meet Iran's strict Islamic dress code for women) for an Iranian film by well known Iranian director Majid Majidi.
Also, Oscar-winning American filmmaker Kathryn Ann Bigelow is reportedly in Iraq now to produce a film on the estimated 10-20 million Shia pilgrims, including many from Iran, who will merge in Karbala on November 20, despite threats by ISIL, on the holy day of Arbaeen.
Bigelow will travel to Basra, southern Iraq, to follow a group of pilgrims who march toward Karbala, where is the site for the holy shrine of martyred Shia Saint/Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Related to Cinema
- Iranians showcased at Vancouver International Film Festival, From Farhadi to Golshifteh and Namjoo
- Oliver Stone: Turn Off Your Phones. Snowden director warns against technology
- Late Iranian director among Film Academy (Oscars) new diversity members
- Jimmy Vestvood (Maz Jobrani) excels at box office
- Iran's Golzar and Kardashian to represent Hype International
- Is Golshifteh Farahani married to a New York street performer? Video
- MarVista releases romantic drama inspired by Rumi's love poems
- Afghanistan: Bold modernization of TV and Cinema
- Shohreh Aghdashloo promotes cosmetics at TIFF 2015
- Golazar, Dia Mirza and Bachchan to star in Iranian-Indian film?
- Am I A Threat? Golshifteh Farahani in Cannes Panel
- Radan's Marriage, April Fools' Day Hoax?
- Golshifteh Farahani in Disney's next Pirates of the Caribbean
- Colorful fashion in Iran's film festival prompts Morality Police presence (images)
- Golshifteh Farahani still controversial (Now full nudity)
