By Jilawatan

Actress Aishwarya Rai might be pitted against Ben Kingsley’s wife Daniela Lavender in his dream project “Taj”, a film about Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his quest to build the Taj Mahal.

“Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will play Mumtaz in the movie, if she approves the script and loves it. Daniela would be playing Kandahari Begum, Shah Jahan’s first wife in the film,” Kingsley told reporters in Panaji Monday.

The actor, who is here as guest of honour for the 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), said he will play the emperor in the film.

But he feels that making “Taj” won’t be easy.

“I suppose it’s very foolish or very brave attempt to do a movie on Shah Jahan. If I can show him in a human way, if I can portray him as a man amongst us — I might be able to add to many explanations on how Taj was built,” Kingsley said.