Mallika on a new role!

Mallika Sherawat is all set to go westwards again. She has bagged her second Hollywood assignment after Jackie Chan’s The Myth. This one is The Aquarian Gospel, the epic story of Jesus Christ’s missing years, which chronicles his journey from Israel as a boy of 13, through India, Tibet, Persia, Greece and Egypt. It describes how as a young man of 30, Jesus encountered people of all creeds, classes and faiths, and also the world’s greatest saints and sages, before becoming a prophet whose life and teachings swept the world. Sherawat plays Saraswati, a celibate yogini (brahmacharini), who Yeshua (Jesus) bonds with on his journey through India. This role is a nice contrast for an actress known as the Bollywood sexiest heroine! But since a large part of the film is set in India, the director and producers decided to begin casting from the East, and are excited to have Mallika as part of the project. Australian director Drew Heriot (The Secret) said about his heroine, "Mallika is not just a pretty face, she is versatile, has a background in philosophy and will be able to convey the richness of the subject." The film, incidentally, portrays Jesus’s teachings in new environments and explores its similarities with those of the East. Mallika is excited at having landed a plum role in this Hollywood production. "I love the personality of the character and feel that it will be a terrific challenge to bring Saraswati to life," the actress said. "I find that in most mythological and spiritual films, women seem to be lacking any true wisdom or a sense of humour. I look forward to bringing both of those qualities to this character. John F Sullivan and William Sees Keenan, who co-wrote the script for The Aquarian Gospel, were inspired by the best-selling book The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ (1898) by Russian anthropologist Nicholas Notovich. A journey to Tibet by Notovich led to the discovery of ancient scrolls describing the missing years of the life of Jesus and The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ (1908) by evangelical preacher Levi Dowling.