A French film exploring the enigma surrounding Mata Amritanandamayi is under production in Kochi.

Also see: Pak team talks peace at Amma's birthday

During the shooting, which coincides with the Amma's 50th birthday celebrations, the French producer-director team of Manuel de la Roche and Jan Kounen told PTI that the film, titled Darshan -- Embracing the world, is part of a series they are doing on world cultures.

The film, with English subtitles, will use a lot of footage from Amma's previous interviews, they said.

"I want to present the portrait of a women, who as a young girl had a vision which made people feel she was going
crazy. I want to document the journey of that girl into her present avatar as 'Amma'", the director said.

On what inspired the project, Kounen said: "I was restless and plagued by several dilemmas and Amma eased away all these and showed me the right path."

The film is likely to be released in the summer of 2004 at a world premier in Paris.