Farhan Akhtar to Play Pandit Ravi Shankar

Farhan Akhtar will be playing Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar in a biopic on the Beatles, helmed by reputed British director Sam Mendes. Farhan is reportedly thrilled to take on this pivotal role in the prestigious project.

While the actor-director is not allowed to speak about it, a close friend says, “This is not the first time Farhan is playing a celebrity on screen. He earlier essayed Milkha Singh. But the offer to play the world-renowned sitarist in The Beatles is not one to be taken lightly.”

Farhan has already started learning the sitar. “He is more a guitar than a sitar guy, but that will change,” chuckles the friend. For now, Farhan’s focus will be completely on acting — first in The Beatles, then in his sister Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara 2. Those eager to see him as a director will have to wait for at least two more years.

Meanwhile, a source close to Farhan says the latest development is nothing short of karma. “The closure of Don 3 was the best thing to happen to Farhan. If he was committed to directing Don 3 he wouldn’t have been able to take on Pandit Ravi Shankar’s role in The Beatles. A pivotal role in a Sam Mendes film, and that too someone as eminent as Pandit Ravi Shakar, is an honour far beyond anything.”

Sam Mendes has directed some of the most celebrated classics of modern times, including American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Road To Perdition, the James Bond film Skyfall, and most recently, Hamnet.