Warner Bros is currently looking at making a Hollywood version of the story of the Taj Mahal.

The project is already in pre-production, based on a script by screenwriter Kamran Pasha. Warner Bros executive Aditya Sood is working on the project and Trilogy Entertainment is to produce the film.

The story of Taj Mahal has long fascinated Indian filmmakers and several Indian films have been produced on the subject - the most famous being the Mubarak starrer Taj Mahal in 1941 and the Bina Rai-Pradeep Kumar starrer Taj Mahal in 1963.

The latest version, the English-language Indo-Canadian co-production Taj Mahal A monument Of Love directed by Robin Khosla, is due to be released across India in the second week of August.

The film, which was launched at the American Film Market in 2000, is produced by Ramesh Khosla and stars Canadian actor Raghu Raj as Emperor Shahjahen and Purnima Patwardhan as the princess whose love inspired the building of the Taj Mahal.

Another film on the same theme, Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story, is to be released in November. The film stars Manisha Koirala, Kim Sharma, Sonya Jahan, Arbaaz Khan and Zulfi Syed. Khan's film, which will be in Hindi and dubbed in English, is budgeted at a staggering US$13m, making it the most expensive film ever made in India.

Indian music video and commercials director Bharat Bala is making India's first IMAX film The Heart Of India, which will celebrate thousands of years of India's cultural heritage and the extraordinary architectural achievement that is the Taj Mahal.

Produced by Los Angeles-based TriColor Films, Bharatbala Productions and MacGillivray Freeman Films, the film is directed Reed Smoot and written by Michael Caulfield. Indian music composer AR Rahman of Bombay Dreams has scored the music for the film. MacGillivray Freeman Films will distribute the film in 2004.

India based animation company Toonz Animation has also announced plans to make a full-length big-budget animation film based on the Taj Mahal

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