……………………………………………….A surprise announcement was made by Deepa Mehta at the Cannes Film Festival a few days back.ohn Abraham was in Cannes to promote his forthcoming film ‘Goal’ along with girlfriend Bipasha Basu and UTV’s Ronnie Screwvala. While Bips came back to Mumbai after just half a day’s stay in Cannes, John stayed there for long.During his stay at Cannes, he met filmmaker Deepa Mehta who, to everyone’s surprise, announced her next movie ‘Luna’. A Hollywood venture, ‘Luna’ is based on the American environmentalist Julia Hill, who lived in a small shelter atop a 180-foot-tall tree in California Redwood Forest for 738 days to protest against the felling of trees in the region. Hill named the tree on which she lived ‘Luna’, which is the title of Deepa Mehta’s movie. Two-time Oscar winner David Ward will write the script for the film. Deepa specifies that the film is very eco-friendly.

The film will have Hollywood actress Rachel Weisz in the role of Julia Hill. John will play an activist. Interestingly, the film will not reveal anything about John’s nationality.At Cannes, John also got to meet Julia Hill, who had come with Mehta. “The true-life inspiration for the film, Julia Hill, just loved John. Her approval was very important. She thought he looked like Antonio Banderas!”, says Deepa Mehta.

Said Deepa, “John, who plays an environmentalist in Luna, is not an Indian, nor an American in the film. His culture origins aren’t specified. Unlike in Water, in this film, he won’t be a man in a dhoti playing the basuri. This makes him Bollywood’s first actor to crack the West without playing an NRI or some exotic creature. He has a full-fledged role opposite Rachel.”

John says he was expecting a mature and serious woman. But in Julia he saw a young, feisty and passionate girl. Although John hasn’t met Rachel Weisz yet, he is an admirer of her acting skills. Besides ‘Luna’, John will also work with Deepa Mehta in her ambitious movie ‘Exclusion’ which will have Amitabh Bachchan playing a Sikh. Looks like Deepa has developed a liking for John. First Water, now Luna and then Exclusion!!! Wow that’s a Hat-trick !! And I am sure John won’t mind that.

Source : Movie tonic

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