AB to play King Lear

Amitabh Bachchan's first full-length English film, tentatively titled The Last Lear, is a tribute to veteran actor Utpal Dutt. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, the film is based on Utpal Dutt's play Aajker Shahjahan. The film also stars Preity Zinta, Divya Dutta, Shefali Shah and Arjun Rampal.
"When Amitabh Bachchan heard that the film was based on Utpal Dutt's Bengali play, he immediately agreed to work on this project," says producer Arindam Choudhuri.Incidentally, Amitabh Bachchan started his career as a film actor with Utpal Dutt in Saat Hindustani in 1969, while Mrinal Sen used AB's voice-over in Bhuwan Shome which was Utpal Dutt's debut venture. "Mr Bachchan appreciated the kind of experimental plays that Utpal Dutt directed. Jayaji kept him informed about the plays, because she was from FTII," he adds.