Hugo Weaving in talks for Gandhi’s Bird Eclipse

Ship Of Theseus star Sohum Shah will also star in Bird Eclipse, which has been selected for Ontario Media Development Corporation’s annual International Financing Forum at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Ship Of Theseus premiered at TIFF in 2012.

Spanning three decades post World War II, Bird Eclipse follows the illegitimate son of a feudal family who is searching for treasure hidden under a dilapidated mansion guarded by a fallen god.

Weaving is being lined up to play the role of a dubious poppy-trading South African, who follows his friend to the house and is afflicted by a curse that makes him a sleeping immortal.

Gandhi met Weaving at the Sydney Film Festival in 2013 and the actor later presented the Australian theatrical release of Ship Of Theseus. They discussed working on a project together, which looks likely to be Bird Eclipse.

Gandhi says he was inspired to make the film while working as co-writer and co-producer on Rahi Barve’s horror drama Tumbad, also produced by Gandhi and Shah’s Mumbai-based production house Recyclewala Films. Tumbad is scheduled for completion in July 2015.

Recyclewala has also produced short film Newborns, about women grappling with the aftermath of acid attacks, which has been selected for TIFF’s shorts competition section. The film is part of a longer documentary project that is in development.