Shekhar Kapur wants an Oscar winner for 'Paani'

He's approached 'Inglourious Basterds' star Christoph Waltz with a role in his project

Having worked with international stars like Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger on his movies, internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has now pitched a role to Oscar-award winner Christoph Waltz for his long pending project 'Paani'.

"(It was) just one of those days where I was going to drudge around complaining to myself about not believing in the scene I just wrote for 'Paani'...I sat and it suddenly came to me. Something I have been wanting to do for long. Very long. I picked the phone and called my agent and said I want to speak to Christoph Waltz, the amazing actor that won the Oscar for his performance in 'Inglourious Basterds'," Kapur posted on his blog www.shekharkapur.com/blog Sunday.

"...And so that evening I spoke to Christoph and pitched him 'Paani'. I told him the story and the world of 'Paani'. I told him about the character I wanted him to play. And he said he loved it. And we decided to meet to see how we can work it out etc.," he added.

Waltz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 82nd Academy Awards recently for his portrayal of a Nazi officer in the Quentin Tarantino outing.

After having a word with Waltz, the 64-year-old didn't take long to complete writing the scene.

"That evening I wrote the troubled scene in 'Paani'. I had a great actor in mind so it suddenly got easier," he wrote.

Indo-Asian News Service