Ang Lee Discovers Pi!

November 1, 2010 (Showbiz PR Wire) This is one piece of news that is sure to have everyone thrilled! Academy Award winning director Ang Lee of Brokeback Mountain fame has finally zeroed in on an actor who will portray the lead role in his ambitious project ‘Life of Pi’. And surprise surprise…the actor is from India!

Yes, India has much to rejoice about as Ang Lee has chosen 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma to essay the role of Pi. Suraj lives with his Mathematician parents in Delhi. He has no previous acting experience and was cast following an extensive, months-long search. Over 3000 young men auditioned for the part.

Lee, whose many other honors include an Oscar nomination for his direction of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and whose “Sense and Sensibility” was a Best Picture nominee, will shoot Life of pi in 3D, utilizing groundbreaking techniques to capture the story’s epic scope.

Life of Pi is based on Yann Martel’s beloved book, one of the biggest publishing events of the past decade. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide and continues to sell over 1,000 copies per week and has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize, and was a New York Times bestseller for over a year.

Yann Martel had this to say,” I'm thrilled that Ang is adapting LIFE OF PI to film. He's a brilliant, versatile director, with a stunning visual sensibility. He can capture the most intimate emotion as well as the most dynamic action. He's the perfect filmmaker to bring Pi’s epic journey to the screen”

Life of Pi will take the audience through a young man’s incredible adventure – at turns thrilling and spiritual; joyous and harrowing; humorous and tragic. Audiences will follow Pi Patel as he travels from an exotic zoo in India on a voyage across the Pacific, where he survives a shipwreck and is cast adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger as his only company. Adrift in an endess expanse of ocean, Pi struggles to survive and train his companion, landing on a magical island that offers the two their only respite on their desperate journey.

Commented Ang Lee: “It has been a daunting and exciting process to develop a motion picture that brings Yann Martel’s fascinating, mind-boggling story to the big screen. Casting the sixteen-year old Pi was particularly challenging. 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.

“Suraj is Pi,” Lee continued. “During his audition, he filled the room with emotion, much of which he conveyed simply through his eyes. His natural ability to believe and stay in the world of the story is a rare treasure.”

Mr Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India says, "We are hugely excited that Ang is adapting the international best -seller 'Life of PI'. The fact that it will project Indian talent on the Global platform makes it doubly special. We are glad to have the young and talented Suraj Sharma on board for this exciting project. With it's thrilling plot and groundbreaking 3D techniques, 'Life of Pi' will be a hugely anticipated film in India."

The film will begin production in January 2011 in India and Taiwan. Twentieth Century Fox will release the film on December 14th, 2012.

With another young newcomer starring in a major Hollywood film, Indian talent sure is going global! We can’t wait to see this one!

UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATIONS

(A division of Parag Desai Media Group)
http://www.universalcommunications.in/
Parag Desai
-StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto