Amitabh Bachchan joins Leonardo DiCaprio in 'The Great Gatsby'

Amitabh Bachchan has been cast in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

The actor will appear alongside Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio in the period drama.

He will reportedly play Meyer Wolfsheim, a mysterious figure who helps Jay Gatsby accumulate his fortune.

Bachchan mentioned his meeting with the film's makers in Australia on his blog. "Time has been spent well and hopefully judiciously. Days ahead will tell us whether it was fruitful or not," the Bollywood veteran commented.

He also revealed this week that his favourite film is Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, which he saw when shooting his classic drama Sholay in 1975.

Bachchan wrote: "On a rare off day today, I remained that lazy unperturbed bird, curled up on a couch and back to back watched The Godfather trilogy perhaps a version which was the directors cut and so a longer version and having scenes that were not seen before. (sic)

"Salim Sahab and Javed Sahab were with me in London for a short break during the shooting of Sholay and we were desperate to see the film at the first opportunity.

"We discovered that a nearby town was screening the film in a small unknown theater and we caught a train to get to the venue to catch the film."