David Franzoni: Film will shake the stereotype about Muslims

David Franzoni, the award-winning screenwriter of Gladiator starring Russell Crowe, is writing a screenplay for a film about Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim poet and thinker, writes The Guardian.

Oscar winner Franzoni and Stephen Joel Brown, the producer of the Rumi film, said they want to confront the stereotypical portrayal of Muslim characters in Western cinema by depicting the life of the great Sufi thinker.

- He is like Shakespeare. A character with immense talent, significant to the society and people of his time, and it is evident that such a person continues to have an influence today. Such people are always worth exploring, said Franzoni.

The producers hope that filming will begin as early as next year. Franzoni and Brown visited Istanbul last week where they met with experts on Rumi's life and work, and they also visited the mystical mausoleum in Konya.

- This is a very exciting project – and obviously challenging. There are many reasons to make such a production right now. I believe the world needs to hear the story; Rumi enjoys immense popularity in the United States. I think this will give him a character and a story, explained the screenwriter.

Rumi's spiritual and mystical epics, the Masnavi and the Divan, are among the best poetry in the world and have been translated into many languages. The Sufi teacher, who left his birthplace (modern-day Afghanistan) as a young man during the Mongol invasion, traveled through Baghdad, Mecca, and Damascus with his family as a refugee before settling in Konya (modern-day Turkey), where he died at an advanced age.

Rumi's encounter with the mysterious mystic Shams of Tabrizi, believed to have occurred in 1244, changed his life's direction. After Shams mysteriously disappeared, a grieving Rumi wrote most of his love poetry that is known in the West today. Rumi's poetry is currently the best-selling in America.

Franzoni and Brown say they would like to offer the role of Rumi to Leonardo DiCaprio, while Robert Downey Jr would play Shams of Tabrizi, although they say it is still too early for auditions.

- The biggest challenge for the screenwriter is building credible profiles of Rumi and Shams based on extensive mythological material. Even basic facts about their lives are disputed. We are trying to both create and bring the character to life because much is missing in the shadows of history, and some of it is idealized. So you have to go back and find the human being who became a saint, because we cannot write about a saint, explained Franzoni.

Franzoni and Brown say the biggest reason they started working on the film is the desire to present Rumi's life story to the millennial generation that so loves his poetry.

Franzoni says he hopes the audience will identify with the poet:

- I think it's obvious why people love his poetry. When T.E. Lawrence was asked why he loved the desert so much, he said: "Because it is pure." There is something so genuinely understandable about Rumi. You simply understand it. And not only do you understand it, but it also wins you over.