R Balki and Gauri Shinde, the Hindi filmmaker couple, on Thursday said they have partnered with media business veteran Pranab Kapadia as co-producer for the upcoming films to be made under their banner Hope Productions.
In a press release, the couple announced that there are four films, including a thriller, currently in the works at their production house.
“Gauri and I are absolutely delighted to announce that Pranab will be partnering with us in our future ventures, beginning with a thriller directed by me that begins filming in July this year, followed by three films planned for 2022,” Balki said.
One of the four projects will be shot in the UK, per the press release.
Kapadia has been in the industry for more than two decades and led the UK subsidiary of Reliance-owned Adlabs. In 2020, he founded Moviegoers Entertainment, a UK-based company that specialises in overseas distribution and monetisation of content across multiple platforms.
Talking about the duo, Kapadia said, “Their unique style of storytelling, creating entertaining content and commercial success out of subjects that are considered taboo, is remarkable.”
Balki added, “We have known Pranab for about 10 years now, and have always admired his desire to make films and content that not only break the barriers of convention but also tell newer stories, which is well complemented with his sound business acumen. Pranab has always believed that we need to keep earning the right to tell the stories we want to, and that syncs with our philosophy, bringing about this partnership.”
Launched in 2011, Hope Productions has bankrolled a number of critically and commercially successful films over the years, including Cheeni Kum (2007), Paa (2009), English Vinglish (2012), Shamitabh (2015), Ki & Ka (2016), Dear Zindagi (2016), Padman (2018), and Mission Mangal (2019). The company has also produced several television commercials.
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Meanwhile, on May 25, cinematographer PC Sreeram revealed that Balki is set to direct Malayalam actor Dulquer Salmaan in an upcoming psychological thriller film. It is unclear if this thriller is the same one that Balki mentioned in his press release on Thursday. Silverscreen India’s attempts to reach out to the filmmaker for confirmation were unsuccessful.
It must be noted that neither Balki nor Dulquer have officially announced the film yet and there are no details out regarding the cast, crew, or language of the project.