Ruslaan has got a very special face: Christopher Miles

By Subhash K Jha
In his career of nearly 5 decades Christopher Miles has directed 13 critically-acclaimed films including the bio-pic Priest Of Love on the life of litterateur D.H Lawrence. Last month Miles was in Mumbai to finalize a project based on the life of the controversial King Farouk of Egypt. In a warm interview Miles reveals his plans.
You are the elder brother of one of my favourite British actresses!
Yes, Sarah Miles is my sister. In fact we're planning a sequel to her best-known film David Leans's Ryan's Daughter. We'd probably call it in Ryan's Grand-daughter.David Lean took a long time filming it. They had lots problems on that one.In fact I made two films while he made Ryan's Daughter. Later when he met me he said, 'I stopped you never did.' Ryan's Daughter was slammed by the critics when it was released. They've now changed their mind about it.
It's good to have you in Mumbai.
This isn't my first visit to the country. I've been here twice before. And my wife's great-grandfather started the Madras Times.I'm also an honorary member of the Kolkata Directors'Guild. You've such a huge and talented film industry.It's good to be here again. I'm here to finalize my project on the life of King Farouk. I was actually supposed to be involved in a book based on his life called One Of Us. That didn't turn out the way we wanted, and some of the people in it would've sued for libel. So we abandoned the book. But I decided to make a film on King Farouk based on an unknown book The Last Pharoah. It went into the King's life at age 24 when he was young enthusiastic Egyptian king when in fact he wasn't Egyptian. His father was a Graeco-Turk. The Eyptians aren't sure about where to place King Farouk.In my film set during World War 2 Farouk vacillates between the British and the Germans. It's like a Casablanca on the Niles.
So you had to cast someone foreign and exotic.
I didn't want to cast an English actor. I chose Mumbai's Ruslaan Mumtaz. It was enormously difficult. Last year my wife was in Rajasthan. That's when she spotted Ruslaan. He looks quite like Farouk.I saw Ruslaan in Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar and a part of Tere Sang. He's got a very special face.I cast him because he has a princely quality. He seems to have royal blood.Plus I think India can look a lot like Egypt. For some reason Egypt doesn't welcome foreigners. All the recent Egyptian films include The Mummy has been filmed in Morocco. My film now takes Egypt to India.
Are you saying you're going to film this Egyptian tale in India?!
Yes,you've everything here in Rajasthan including the deserts and camels. I even found an exact replica of the British embassy in Cairo in Jaipur. We start filming in October-November. The ambassador will be played by a very fine British actor Jonathan Pryce. We're finalizing the girl. But I'm going to be using a lot of the local resources from your film industry including the DOP.I've seen a wonderful film The Warrior shot in Rajasthan starring Irrfan Khan. Such cultural cross-connections are getting frequent.
You've also made a film based on the life of D.H Lawrence?
That's right! I made The Priest Of Love.And I gave Ian McKellan his first screen role. He was brilliant as Lawrence. It was also Eva Gardner's last film, sadly. I'm proud of that film.
You apparently were an academician before a movie director?
That's right. It was impossible for me to teach and make films. Only Eisenstein was able to do it. I resigned gracefully.
Do you feel all the talent from British cinema is heading for Hollywood?
I'm hoping it's heading for Bollywood. The problem is any market that makes films in English automatically becomes a slave to the American market. A good British film doesn't make back its money in Britain alone. We're always looking hopefully across the Atlantic. A success like Chariots Of Fire is rare in Britain. It's disastrous to have the British cinema rely on.

LINK: http://123india.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=20230