Now, a biopic on Mother Teresa

Born as Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, she went on to be revered world over as Mother Teresa. Over the years, several films, documentaries and even an official biography have attempted to offer insights into her life. And now, director-writer Seema Upadhyay is in the process of making a biopic on the Mother in Hindi. She has already sought the requisite permission from the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata — the headquarters of the charity organisation founded by Mother.

Seema tells BT, “I’ve worked on this subject for three years. Mother has been my guiding light and she has ensured that I tie all the loose ends of my script and do justice to her story. The idea is to take the audience through the course of her entire life, highlighting some amazing, lesser-known faces. She was like any of us — ordinary, someone who lived with a lot of self-doubt and then, found her way through life, helping the needy with a smile on her face.”

The film will be produced by Nitin Manmohan, Pradeep Sharma and Girish Johar. It will be shot at several locations around the world, including the city of Mother Teresa’s birth (Skopje), Paris and Ireland where she spent her formative years, and Kolkata, where she set up her charity organisation. The film is expected to go on floors sometime in September-October, this year.

While the team is in talks with actresses to play the Mother, Seema says that the cast and crew will include Indian and international artistes. She adds, “In two hours and about 140 scenes to be precise, I want to narrate an interesting life story without boring the audience. The idea is to promote humanity and unconditional love, which has become rare. We will use prosthetics, but it will require the actress to live Mother’s life. I’m yet to know who the blessed one is.”