The 63-year-old pop diva and
grandmother, who is a convert to Buddhism, has spent two weeks
touring India "on a cultural recce" to familiarize herself with
Indian culture ahead of filming for the movie, "The Goddess", which
is about the power of women.
"I think Ismail
(Merchant) chose me because of my shakti (power) within. I'm special
in that I've had a long run and I'm still here," Turner told
reporters in Bombay, India's movie and financial hub earlier this
week.
Merchant said he had taken Turner to the southern state of Kerala
and other parts of the country "where she saw Hindu pujas (prayers)
and the way Indians live."
"This will enrich her
experience to understand this country more and give a better
perspective about her role in our film," he told AFP.
Shooting for the film
will begin early next year, said the director, who has won wide
acclaim for the raft of polished period movies he has made with his
film partner, James Ivory (news).
Merchant said the
Zurich-based Turner, who grew up on a farm in Nut Bush, Tennessee,
in the late 1930s and had a lonely, difficult childhood, was the
right choice to play a strong role in the movie. He recounted
how he was blown away by one of Turner's high-voltage stage
performances in New York a decade ago in which she swooped down on a
crane and left the 100,000-strong audience spellbound by her energy
and charisma.
"She has universal
appeal. Wherever I have been, she is known. That is the reason I
chose her to do this film and I am happy she agreed," he said.
Turner is due to play the role
of the Hindu goddess, Shakti, who gives people power and energy to
survive, said Merchant.
Turner,
who once famously declared she planned to work until she turned 90,
will sing and dance on the back of a tiger, Indian news reports have
said.
Merchant said the film
will have songs in Sanskrit and English and will also star Hollywood
actor Matthew Modine (news)
who played in his latest film, "Le Divorce", as well as Hollywood
actors.
The music will be
composed by famed Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, said Merchant
who flew to Bombay for the Indian release of "Le Divorce" this
month. Merchant said Turner would have to sing in Latin and
Sanskrit.
The once hyper-frenetic
performer told reporters she has spent the last few years quietly in
Zurich, happily pottering around her home, taking long strolls and
sleeping 10 hours a day.
Turner, who has retired from the the stage, told reporters she did
not miss live performing any more. "The epitome of my career
was when I could fill a stadium with 190,000 people, but now I'm
ready to move on to another kind of performance," she was quoted by
the Times of India as saying. Now, she said, she was ready to
get back into the world, "not as Mad Max, but as a goddess that's
real power and real love".
