Tina Turner, who had Indians throughout generations dancing to songs equivalent to “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, was all set to play “Shakti” in a movie to be directed by Ismail Merchant and visited Varanasi and Kerala for an exploratory journey. But the movie, introduced within the early 2000s, was to not be. And the queen of rock ‘n’ roll, a practising Buddhist who died on the age of 83 in her Switzerland residence on Tuesday, spoke eloquently concerning the venture, “The Goddess”, and its “cosmic energy”. “The cosmic energy of Shakti attracted me to this film and the film to me. It signifies a new energy, new abilities and new beginnings. I fed the desire in me which wanted me to feel the energy of thousands of people in a stadium. Now I want to go to another message,” Turner advised the Eastern Eye in an interview in 2004.

Turner, who was 64 at the moment, mentioned her perception in “prayer” and the therapeutic energy of religion pushed her to say sure to the character.

“The epitome of my career was when I could fill a stadium of 190,000 people, but now I am ready to move into another kind of performance. I want to reinvent myself. Everyone expects Tina Turner to come back with a new album, but I will give them this movie,” she advised the UK-based publication.

Titled “The Goddess”, the movie was to be made beneath Merchant-Ivory Productions, named after the filmmaker and his partner-collaborator James Ivory. It was met with protests from proper wing parts in India who objected to Turner enjoying the Indian goddess.

The movie couldn’t carry off with Ismail Merchant’s sudden dying in May 2005 after a surgical procedure.

In an interview with Eastern Eye, Merchant recalled the second Turner got here to his thoughts for the position.

“… I saw Tina Turner at radio City Music Hall performing in front of thousands of people. She arrived magnificently on a crane and landed in the audience. People went berserk when she did this… I thought, if there was something this woman can do then it is to become the goddess Shakti,” Merchant had mentioned.

It took him a decade to finalise the script. And it was solely then that he approached the music icon. Determined to make the movie regardless of objections, Merchant defined his stance in an announcement titled “The Goddess”.

The protests had been “based on misconception”, he mentioned in an announcement nonetheless out there on the web site of the manufacturing home.

He described Turner as “one of the great artists of our time” and one who had thrown herself “whole-heartedly into the project”.

“In her recent trip to India, she said that she felt she had come home. An artist of such international stature should be welcomed coming to India, learning our traditions in order to portray them so that the whole world may know the glory of our music, dance, and spiritual ethos,” Merchant mentioned.

The filmmaker mentioned “The Goddess’ was not meant to be a specific representation of a single deity, whether Kali, Laxmi or Durga.

“She is Shakti, the common female power, which is manifest in Kali, Durga, Mother Mary, Wicca, and each lady on the planet. The movie has been conceived as a way to have fun this power, not denigrate it.”

Turner, who has credited Buddhism for helping her get out of an abusive relationship with former husband Ike Turner, was also planning to sing for the movie in languages such as English, Sanskrit and Latin, according to reports.

Turner’s India association through a film could not be possible but her death led to many fans remembering the impact of her music. Her hits included “Proud Mary,” “Nutbush City Limits” and “River Deep, Mountain High” and her fans couldn’t get enough.

In a tweet, actor Urmila Matondkar quoted lyrics from Turner’s popular song “The Best” and shared an old picture of her posing with a hoarding of the singer.

“You’re merely the most effective. Better than all the remainder!! RIP.. Tina Turner. May your music, unbelievable journey from abuse to music superstardom and boundless ardour for all times proceed to encourage many extra!! Rest in Power #Tina #TinaTurner,” the actor wrote. Actor Pooja Bhatt also tweeted a tribute to the music icon referencing how she overcame her personal struggles and turned it into music.

“This musical will not be about my stardom,” Turner said of the musical ‘Tina’ which premiered in 2018. “It is concerning the journey I took to get there. Each evening I would like audiences to remove from the theatre that you could flip poison into drugs.” #TinaTurner Reign on queen,” Bhatt mentioned.

Music composer Vishal Dadlani mentioned Turner’s passing is a private loss.

“This hurt. I remember being around 10 when ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ came out and how that voice and that vibe left an instant impact. What a brightly-shining star she was! @tinaturner forever. #TinaTurner,” the music director-singer wrote on the microblogging web site.

Composer Salim Merchant shared a information article on Turner’s dying on his Instagram Stories to the tune of “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”

“Rest in power Tina Turner. Your music and spirit will continue to inspire generations to come #TinaTurner #RestInPower #MusicLegend,” Merchant wrote within the caption.