hollywood

Updated: Dec 17, 2015 13:51 IST

Away from the glare of arch-lights, Leonardo DiCaprio is enjoying a romantic date with India. The Wolf of Wall Street actor, who was reportedly in the country to shoot for a documentary film on climate change, took time out to visit Taj Mahal on Saturday morning.

His entire schedule was kept under wraps. “He reached Taj around 7.15 am and left around 9:30 am on Saturday. He was wearing a cap, black sunglasses to conceal his identity and was surrounded by bodyguards, who donned an all-black look. They were trying hard to keep the visit low-key. Whenever someone tried to get close to DiCaprio or tried to click his photographs, the people were asked to leave him alone,” said a person present at the monument.

The three-time Academy Award nominee, who has shared screen space with Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan in The Great Gatsby, even hired an Indian guide to help him understand the culture.

Hollywood film actor and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio took a walk in the gardens of the Taj Mahal. (AFP)

Narrating an incident,a source said: “There was one foreigner, who identified the Hollywood star and approached him, but the bodyguards came forward and said ‘No photographs. Go’“.

The actor, who enjoys a wide fan base around the globe including India, was not alone. He was with his mother, other family members and a still photographer. “He roamed inside and around the vicinity and then sat in golf cart and went out. There was a still photographer, who was clicking his photographs,” the source said.

Read: This is why Leo was in India

Everyone associated with his trip to India has been asked to maintain distance from the media and refrain from doling out any information. “He admired the monument to the fullest and fell in love with its story. He was here with his mother and is in India to shoot a documentary. He wanted to explore the whole vicinity of the monument before it started getting crowded, so that he can click photographs,” the source said.

The actor left for Delhi after his visit to the monument, one of the seven Wonders of the World. The Hollywood actor has been named the United Nations Messenger of Peace on Climate Change.

It is reported that DiCaprio was in the country to profile Sunita Narain of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) for an untitled, yet-to-be-announced documentary film on climate change that will “explore the crisis of our time in a way that has never been done before”. The actor reportedly reached India on Thursday and left on Saturday.

Narain had earlier said, “I have been in touch with the filmmakers for the past year about their plans to make a film on climate change. They wanted me to particularly talk about our concerns about the need for ambition and equity in climate negotiations.”