Bollywood producer to adapt author William Dalrymple’s book into series

Bollywood film producer Sidharth Roy Kapur’s production house, Roy Kapur Films (RKF) has acquired the rights to adapt author William Dalrymple’s book “The Anarchy:The Relentless Rise of the East India Company” into a series.The book traces the rise of The East India Company against the decline and fall of the Mughal Empire from 1599 to 1802.

Roy Kapur said he intends to put together a team of international writers and show-runners to create a series that will be “path breaking in scale and quality“.“I believe that stories that are compelling, relevant and authentic have the potential to resonate with audiences across all nationalities and cultures. William Dalrymple’s epic tale of The East India Company is one such story,” the producer said in a statement.Roy Kapur is planning a big budget ,grand scale,series of adaptation of the book.

Author-historian Dalrymple,who is on board as a consultant for the project, said he hasn’t written a book more “obviously crying out to be adapted” than “The Anarchy”. “I’m very excited looking at the initial treatment note, talking about the various ways to bring this book alive and to bring the characters I’ve been living with over the last 6 years onto the screen,so that everyone else can see them in flesh and blood.It’s an incredibly exciting moment and I have high expectations of this project,”he said.

The Anarchy was recently listed by former U.S President Barack Obama as among his top 10 recommended books of 2019.