Cast of 'Eat, pray, Love' visit Banaras

Hollywood actors Richard Jenkins and Billy Crudup went Varanasi calling recently.
Both actors are in India in connection with the shooting of Julia Roberts-starrer Eat, Pray, Love, and they went on a brief visit to the city along with some other crew members from the film. ���Julia was also expected to come, but she couldn���t make it because of her children,��� says Dr Arvind Singh, academician, who guided the delegation in Varanasi.
The actors and the director of the film, Ryan Murphy, were in Varanasi last Friday.���Jenkins (who���s been nominated for an Academy Award for best actor for the film Visitor) was deeply touched by the city. He took a keen interest in the Ganga aarti and even offered diyas in the river. ���I would���ve missed out on a great thing had I not come to Varanasi,��� is what he said about the city,��� reveals Singh. He adds, ���The rest of the crew members insisted on visiting the famous galis of Banaras. In the evening, they attended a dance performance and had dinner at Peshwa Haveli on Raja Ghat. What came as a big surprise was how much Sushila, an American who���s part of the production team, knew about Hinduism. She stays in the Kashi Ashram in Florida. She was very inquisitive about spirituality and keenly observed the rituals on the ghat,��� adds Singh.