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Amitabh Bachchan

Fresh from her success in Water, Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta is eyeing several Bollywood big names for her planned feature on one of Canada’s darkest moments in history – the Komagata Maru incident.

Producers of the movie to be directed by Mehta are reportedly eyeing Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan for the lead role.

"The hero of my most ambitious and expensive film has to be a man of substance, stature and wisdom. I can’t think of anyone else but Bachchan," said Mehta.

Seema Biswas, who has been critically acclaimed in the international press for Water, and John Abraham will also play key roles in Komagata Maru .

British actor Terence Stamp is to play the crucial role of a lawyer.

The story of Komagata Maru starts in 1914, when a fairly well off Sikh, Gurdit Singh, living in Malaysia, decided to challenge the law by sending a shipload of Indians to Canada as immigrants.

He charted the Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamliner which after much trouble with authorities upped-anchor on April 4 with 150 Sikh passengers.

More passengers were picked up on the way.

When Komagata Maru made it to Shanghai, a German cable company sent a message to the German press announcing the departure of the steamer Komagata Maru from Shanghai for Vancouver on April 14 with "400 Indians on board."

The news of its departure reached the British Columbia authorities. Their instant reaction was that "Hindus would never be allowed to land in Canada."

On May 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru reached Vancouver and anchored near Burrard Inlet.

For two months the passengers of the Komagata Maru, the Indians in British Columbia, and the authorities of British Columbia were involved in a heated legal battle.

In the end, only 24 passengers were given permission to legally stay in Canada and the ship was forced to return to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Mehta’s "Water" which has been making waves in Canada has been listed as one of the top 10 films of 2005 in Canada.

The film set in 1938 colonial India depicts the plight of widows and the injustice meted out to women.

"Water", last of Mehta’s trilogy after "Fire" and "Earth", was a runaway hit when it was released in Canada as people there could identify with the film’s content.