Helen Mirren - Mirren To Play The Queen Again?

DAME HELEN MIRREN is reportedly set to reprise her role as British monarch QUEEN ELIZABETH II in an upcoming film about INDIRA GANDHI.

Mirren, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth in 2006 movie The Queen, is being lined up to tackle the role again in Mother: The Indira Gandhi Story, a two-part biopic about the former Indian prime minister, who was assassinated in 1984.

Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Tommy Lee Jones are also in talks to join the cast, playing former U.S. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon respectively, while British actress Emily Watson will portray former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Director Krishna Shah says, "This is the project of my life, both in its scale and the subject. I have been working on the script for over two decades and it is simply a story that has to be told. It took me years to find a way into her story, but I found it with her role as a mother - both to her family and to a nation with its teeming millions. Indira was India."

And the filmmaker is hopeful the mix of Bollywood and Hollywood film styles will encourage more cultural collaborations in the future, adding, "The distinction between the two is now starting to blur. Bollywood is shifting its outlook, which is a hugely positive move, and to diversity if the way forward for Indian cinema."

The first film is scheduled for release at the end of 2010.