Biopics catch fancy of Bollywood directors...

By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Mumbai, (IANS) It seems every other director in Bollywood wants to make a film on someone famous and legendary.

There are at least two directors ready to make films on legendary actress Meena Kumari's life. An assistant of Sanjay Leela Bhansali has in the meanwhile finalised a story based on the life of eminent actor-director Guru Dutt, which he wants to make with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

And Rituparno Ghosh is all set to film the life of a well-known filmmaker with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

Wait. There's a lot more.

Even as Mahesh Bhatt prepares to film a screenplay based on Parveen Babi's life (and never mind if he has done so already in the controversial "Arth"), his long-term admirer, TV director and filmmaker Vinta Nanda is all set to make a film based on his life.

"It isn't an easy task," says Vinta, who pioneered the culture of long-running soaps on Indian television with her marathon "Tara" and recently spoofed the very soap culture that she initially propagated in her feature film "White Noise".

Reveals Vinta: "My film on Mahesh will go through all his turbulent chapters. I need an actor and not just a star. I don't know where I'll get someone who can play Mahesh from his youth to middle age. But I'm determined to film the story. It's a story that needs to be told."

Vinta is also planning a love story called "History", but only after her Mahesh Bhatt film.

Mahesh Bhatt's nephew, Vikram also intends to go into a dark and stormy phase of his own personal life in his new film.

And the talented TV director Ravi Rai's (coincidentally another Mahesh Bhatt disciple) current love triangle " Kashish " featuring Ayub Khan, Simone Singh and Kitu Gidwani is also based on events from Rai's own life.

Could this self-analytical process have the Bhatt factor in common? Laughs Vinta: "I don't know about the others who are making biographical or autobiographical films. But my film on Mahesh Bhatt will keep me out of the picture."