Chetan Bhagat’s Hit Novel ‘One Indian Girl’ Set as Film Adaptation by Sony (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Toronto-headquartered animation outfit Paperboat Animation Studios has revealed a new slate.The slate is led by “Kabuliwala: Man from Kabul,” a 3D animated feature based on the classic short story by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The story, which has already been adapted several times as live-action features, tells the story of the bond between a 6-year-old girl from Kolkata, India, and an immigrant hawker from Kabul, Afghanistan.Paperboat co-founder and chief creative director Soumitra Ranade, whose credits include “Bombay Rose” and “The World of Goopy and Bagha,” adapted the story and will direct.

K.J. Yossman Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim” is set to get an animated feature adaptation by Indian filmmaker Ketan Mehta.Mehta’s animation studio, Cosmos-Maya, will co-develop the film alongside Irish animation studio Piranha Bar. Mehta (“Sardar,” “Mangal Pandey: The Rising”) will direct.“Kim” is a story about Kimball O’Hara, AKA Kim, a savvy street kid turned child spy in colonial-era India who becomes an apprentice to a Shaolin monk.

EXCLUSIVE: Some of the West End and Broadway’s biggest productions are making their debuts on Indian TV.

EXCLUSIVE: Mahatma Gandhi’s life is to be detailed in a multi-season streaming period drama series akin to Netflix global smash The Crown, Deadline can reveal.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas grew up eyeing a career as an aeronautical engineer, but a detour to pageantry led to a Miss World crown in 2000 and a pivot to an acting career. She became a star in her native India and has gone on to conquer Hollywood. That may sound like the stuff of fairy tales, but there were certainly challenges along the way—from facing a patriarchal society at home to avoiding what Chopra Jonas calls “jack-in-the-box” typecasting in the studio system. Now, she’s determined to make things easier for women and South Asian talent following behind her, rewriting the rulebook and busting conventions.

Naman Ramachandran The Indian media and entertainment sector, currently valued at $24 billion is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2024, according to the country’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.“I personally feel with the growth rate we have and I’m sure it’s going to grow more than that. By 2030 we expect it to double and even more,” Thakur told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival.Thakur spoke with Variety on Wednesday at the Cannes India Pavilion after he launched a filming incentive that offers up to 35% reimbursement on local spend to international productions shooting in India.“I think it’s quite lucrative and I expect a lot of people to come and shoot in India, because our major focus is to make India the content hub of the world,” said Thakur.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNawazuddin Siddiqui, the Emmy-nominated Indian actor, is to take the lead role in U.S. indie film “Laxman Lopez.” The film is a Christmas-themed movie to be directed by Mexico’s Roberto Girault, director of local hits including 2017’s “La Leyenda Del Diamante,” 2015’s “Los Arboles Mueren de Pie” and “El Estudiante” from 2009. The project is led by New York-based Imagine Infinite Productions.

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Indian TV star Chethana Raj has died at age 21 after getting surgery for fat removal.The actress was reportedly admitted to hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka on Monday for fat removal surgery but later died from complications from the operation.The star is said to have suffered from a cardiac arrest after her lungs filled with fluid, according to local news outlets. Chethana is understood to have been moved from the cosmetic hospital to an ICU unit following the complications. However when she arrived, she was reportedly unresponsive and without a pulse.

Indian TV star Chethana Raj has died at the age of 21 after having fat removal surgery. The actress was reportedly admitted into a private plastic surgery hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Monday, but is said to have developed complications as fluid began to accumulated in her lungs. She later died of a cardiac arrest, after being rushed to another hospital where doctors were unsuccessful in reviving her through CPR.

Paramount Global has handed Marco Nobili and Olivier Jollet key new roles as its seeks to turbo-charge expansion of its international streaming services.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIndian activist filmmaker Pa. Ranjith is to begin production later this year on “Vettuvam” (aka “The Hunted”), a linked film and TV series about standing up to injustice and which is largely set in a prison.The projects are backed by Golden Ratio Films, the film production arm of Vistas Media Capital, and Neelam Studios.The story involves a rural gangster, who is a modern day Robin Hood to his people, but who turns himself in to the police in order to avoid his enemies.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMumbai-based Banijay Asia has struck a deal with ITV Studios’ Armoza Formats to bring an official adaptation of the award-winning Canadian mini-series, “Vertige,” to screen.The high-profile French-language show deconstructs the alleged suicide of a young girl, Daphne Roussel. Banijay Asia will reimagine the psychological thriller for the Indian audience.With a remit focused on India and, increasingly Southeast Asia, Banijay Asia is a joint venture between Banijay, Stéphane Courbit’s TV production and distribution powerhouse behind “Survivor” and “Peaky Blinders,” and veteran producer Deepak Dhar.The Banijay parent company this week announced that it is set to go public and launch on the Amsterdam stock exchange through a newly-created special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.

Naman Ramachandran Indian origin, U.S.-born Belgian actor Rumana Molla (“Irada”) will make her directorial debut with Belgium-set Indian immigrant drama “Minimum,” which will commence principal photography in June.The film will follow newly-wed immigrant Fauzia, whose mother-in-law Ruxana keeps her captive. She finds out that everything she had been told about her husband Ali was a lie and loses hope until a French tutor, Laurie, is hired to teach her the basics.

Naman Ramachandran South Asian focused streamer ZEE5 Global and BBC Studios India have partnered to create a slate of Hindi-language originals across genres, commencing with series “The Broken News,” an adaptation of Mike Bartlett’s BBC show “Press,” directed by Vinay Waikul (Netflix’s “Aranyak”). The plot turns on two rival news channels based in Mumbai – Awaaz Bharati, an independent, ethical news channel, and Josh 24/7 News, which offers sensationalist and invasive journalism, and what transpires between the main characters in their quest for news.

Naman Ramachandran Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia are teaming again for a modern, London-set British Indian adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”The pair won the 2022 best live action short film Oscar for “The Long Goodbye,” which they co-wrote, Ahmed starred in and Karia directed. WME Independent will launch international sales at the Cannes Film Market, while co-representing North American rights with CAA.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of their Oscar win for The Long Goodbye, Sound Of Metal and Rogue One actor Riz Ahmed and Surge director Aneil Karia are confirmed for a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet, which is being launched by WME Independent at the Cannes market.

Naman Ramachandran India’s T-Series, Reliance Entertainment and Match Cut Productions have teamed on Srijit Mukherji’s Hindi-language satire “Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga.”Inspired by true events, the film is about the adverse effects of urbanization, human-animal conflict and poverty, leading to a bizarre practice in a village located on the edge of a forest.It stars Pankaj Tripathi (“Sacred Games”), Neeraj Kabi (“Paatal Lok”) and Sayani Gupta “(Four More Shots Please”).Mukherji’s credits include Bengali-language films “Autograph” (2010), which was a Glasgow International Film Festival and Abu Dhabi International Film Festival selection, “Jaatishwar” (2014), “Chotushkone” (2015), “Rajkahini (2015) and “Ek Je Chilo Raja” (2019), which played at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. “Sherdil” will be his second Hindi film after the 2017’s “Begum Jaan,” the remake of “Rajkahini.” Mukherji said: “I got inspired by the real incident of tragic practises in villages bordering the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and I knew I had to capture it in my next.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAnurag Kashyap’s “Dobaaraa” has been set as the opening night film of the London Indian Film Festival. Despite its name, the festival will play at venues across the U.K., and will present 24 features and 18 shorts.“Dobaaraa” is a supernatural thriller that LIFF describes as involving a young woman trapped between two lives in different decades.