Global entertainment studio International Art Machine is venturing into India and actor Preity Zinta and filmmakers Dibakar Banerjee and Shekhar Kapur will all direct new shows for the studio.
The first of these will be a series titled Shiva, helmed by Kapur. It will be an adaptation of Amish Tripathi’s Shiva trilogy of novels, beginning with the first book in the series, The Immortals of Meluha. Talking about the project, Kapur said, “Amish’s Shiva trilogy has been India’s great publishing sensation, crossing every age and class. It’s not just mythology, it’s modern storytelling at its best, lending itself to a beautiful international series.”
This will be followed by Zinta’s thriller, The Kitty Party. The actor said, “The Kitty Party is a female-driven murder mystery that moonlights between being a dramedy and thriller. Too early to comment more except that we cannot wait to get started. I’m sure we will have as much fun filming this as we had putting it together.” While Zinta has previously produced and written films, The Kitty Party will mark her directorial debut.
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The International Art Machine’s upcoming slate also includes Dibakar Banerjee’s political thriller, Gods. The filmmaker, whose last release was Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, said, “Gods is an Indian story in a way that can only happen in India. It centres around the ‘Great Indian Family’. The generations. The power play. The family politics. I’m finally getting my secret wish – a family soap that will upend the genre – and channelling some of the best of Indian TV from the 80s and the 90s.”
Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios and current CEO of International Art Machine, revealed that the plan is “to partner with creators across Asia to produce series that will be game-changers at home and successfully carry the banner of Asian originals abroad.”
Further details about the upcoming projects are awaited.