HONG KONG – Pakistani production shingle Vox Vision and the U.K.'s Sum Films have outlined plans to make a predominantly English-language biopic about Benazir Bhutto, the recently assassinated former prime minister of Pakistan.

Companies, respectively headed by Zaid Aziz and Henna Rai, said that "Simply Benazir," a working title, will lense in Pakistan, Blighty, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. They added that it will be made "under the guidance of" Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and close friends.

"This is going to be more than a biopic, we will discuss the controversy surrounding her, her enormous network in the U.K. which few people know about, and Benazir's suspicions as to who might want to assassinate her," Rai told Variety.

Scriptwriting and research, including examination of the book that Bhutto and Washington lobbyist Mark Siegel recently completed and which is now awaiting publication, is expected to take the best part of a year. Delivery of completed film is tentatively pegged at early- to mid-2009 with an outing on both festival and commercial circuits targeted.

Last week Karachi-based production firm Skies Unlimited announced that it is already working on a rival biopic, with scripter and poet Aqeel Ahmad Ruby penning the screenplay and India's Mahesh Bhatt as helmer (Variety, Jan 4 2008.)

However, talks with a prominent Indian actress for the role of Bhutto in "Simply Benazir" are at an "advanced stage," according to Rai.

During the screenwriting process Rai and Zaid, both multi-hyphenates with film and TV experience, will decide whether they will co-direct the pic or appoint a helmer.

Producers will likely pool coin from private sources in India and Pakistan and have already approached public sector Blighty funders including the UK Film Council, Department of Culture Media & Sport and the British Council. They say they already have access to over $1 million of initial funding.

Separately, it was revealed Monday that HarperCollins is now rushing to bring forward to Feb 12 publication of "Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West" from a previously skedded for April 8. Slain on Dec 27, Bhutto argues in the book that Islam should adopt democratic principles as applied in the West.

(this story was updated at 21:00, Hong Kong time)

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