Farhan Akhtar On Playing Ravi Shankar In The Beatles Biopics: "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of"

Farhan Akhtar is set to begin his Hollywood career with Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes's large-scale, four-film project based on the life and legacy of The Beatles. The project is titled The Beatles - A Four Film Cinematic Event. The actor has been cast as legendary sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, a key figure whose influence helped shape part of the band's musical evolution. Recently, Farhan shared a note about the opportunity on Instagram.

What Farhan Akhtar Wrote

Farhan began his post with, "Honoured and grateful to be part of the ever expanding legacy of @thebeatles and of Pandit Ravi Shankar ji. Their creative genius is a rite of passage for generation after generation of listeners and I could go on for days about how their music has influenced me and been a companion through the good times and the not so good."

He added, "Thank you Sam Mendes.. been an ardent admirer of all your work and to be directed by you in this film, is the stuff dreams are made of..."

The newly announced cast also includes Harry Lawtey, Lucy Boynton, and Morfydd Clark.

Lawtey will play Stuart Sutcliffe, often referred to as "the Fifth Beatle." Sutcliffe was the band's original bass guitarist before leaving in 1961 to pursue painting. He became known for reportedly performing with his back to the audience - a claim later disputed by former drummer Pete Best. Sutcliffe also delivered a memorable rendition of Love Me Tender, which is said to have irritated Paul McCartney.

Boynton has been cast as Jane Asher, the British actress once engaged to McCartney, who inspired several Beatles songs, including And I Love Her, We Can Work It Out, and For No One. Asher also travelled with the band to Rishikesh in 1968 for transcendental meditation sessions with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Clark will portray Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife and mother of Julian Lennon. Their relationship began during their college years but later declined due to Lennon's LSD use and his relationship with Yoko Ono, which Cynthia reportedly uncovered through letters.

Sam Mendes is creating four separate feature films, each told from the perspective of one Beatle - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. This project marks the first time Apple Corps and The Beatles have granted full access to their life stories and music rights for a cinematic adaptation.

All four films are being directed by Mendes and produced by his Neal Street partners Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor, alongside Alexandra Derbyshire.

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