MUMBAI: Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will play Pablo Picasso in Carlos Saura‘s film 33 Dias (33 Days). The film, made on a budget of $ 7.9 million, will focus on the painter‘s emotional turmoil while he worked on his masterpiece Guernica.

33 Dias, produced by Spanish producer Elias Querejeta, refers to the time Picasso spent on the mural, which captured his reaction to the destruction of Basque town of Guernica in 1937 by the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War.
 
In the film, Saura shows how painting Guernica proved near salvation for Picasso at a moment of personal crisis. It also focuses on Picasso‘s relationship with his lover, French artist Dora Maar.

To be made in French and Spanish, the film will go on floors next summer in Paris and Guernica.