Vishnu Vardhan Induri, who recently produced the sports drama 83, announced on Monday that he will be adapting Boria Majumdar’s book Maverick Commissioner: The IPL – Lalit Modi Saga into a feature film.
Making the announcement, Induri said in a statement, “Winning the 1983 World Cup was just the tip of the iceberg. No one in the world could believe that a few years down the line India would rule the world of cricket. Almost a quarter-century later came the Neil Armstrong moment of cricket. Formation of the biggest cricket league in the world—the Indian Premier League. It changed the cricketing world forever. The book Maverick Commissioner: The IPL – Lalit Modi Saga by India’s ace sports journalist Boria Majumdar is a fascinating account of the creation of the world’s biggest cricketing mela IPL and insights about the man behind the show—Lalit Modi. Elated to announce that we are adapting this amazing book into a feature film.”
The book will be published by Simon & Schuster India on May 20.
Majumdar said in a statement, “The success of the IPL has been Indian cricket’s single biggest contribution to the game in the last decade and a half. And this success hasn’t come easy. At the time of its creation, all that Commissioner Lalit Modi had to show for was an idea. He was selling a vision and no more. How did the IPL happen? What are the backstories and how it subsequently went wrong for Modi? Years of research and hundreds of interviews have resulted in this book. And most importantly this is my first book which is being turned into a feature film. So all I will say is I am delighted and hope the readers enjoy reading this untold story.”
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Majumdar has written more than 1,500 columns on sports over the last 20 years and has authored and co-authored multiple books, including Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians, Olympics: The India Story (with Nalin Mehta), and Playing It My Way—Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography. He also has a sports chat show, Backstage With Boria.
Modi, who launched the IPL in 2008 and subsequently became the first chairman, was suspended in April 2010 after reports of several frauds committed by him came to light. He is wanted by the Indian law enforcement agencies for cases of financial irregularities and tax evasion dating back to 2010. However, it has been reported that after Modi fled to the UK, the Indian government is still figuring out ways to extradite him.