UTV acquires the Feature Film rights of Ashwin Sanghi’s ‘Chanakya’s Chant’ ~ A film based on the #1 National Bestseller to go on floors soon ~
Mumbai, Wednesday, June 15th, 2011: UTV Motion Pictures has acquired rights to Ashwin Sanghi’s national bestseller - Chanakya’s Chant, published by Westland. The interesting fast-paced story based on politics in two radically different eras will now be adapted into a film by the studio.
Chanakya's Chant, a historical political thriller, released by Westland in January 2011, shot into the Top-5 Bestsellers of India within 2 weeks of its launch, proving that Chanakya’s neetis are as relevant today as they were in ancient times. The book narrates two parallel political tales, one in Chanakya’s puranic Bharat 2300 years ago and the other in post-independence contemporary India. While the ancient story is largely historical, based upon Chanakya’s rise to power and the clever tactics applied by him towards installing Chandragupta Maurya on the throne, the modern story is mostly fictional and tells the tale of Kanpur’s Pandit Gangasagar Mishra who draws inspiration from the master strategist Chanakya and employs his strategies in a modern context to get his protégée Chandini Gupta appointed to the highest office in India.
On announcing the film, Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, said "Chanakya’s Chant is one of those rare books with a storyline that has the potential to be translated into a superbly cinematic and immensely entertaining screenplay. The tale is about the underbelly of national politics which the book superbly exposes, where strategies developed by Chanakya 2300 years ago are still as valid in the modern day political scenario. While the film is currently in its scripting stage, we are in talks with top notch writers and directors to make this the next big political drama after Raajneeti.”
Ashwin Sanghi, author of Chanakya’s Chant said, “The response to the book has been phenomenal. UTV has a robust creative team capable of path breaking marketing campaigns and has a strong network in both domestic and international markets. UTV has always backed content that they believe in and I believe that it is the only studio that will do justice to the terrific story presented in this novel.”
About UTV Motion Pictures: The Motion Pictures division of UTV, established in 2004, pioneered the integrated studio model in the Indian film industry and has today emerged as the leading studio in South Asia. The activities of the studio span across creative development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing, merchandising and syndication of films worldwide. UTV has a library of over 50 films including Hindi, Regional, Animation and International Productions. The last decade in Indian cinema has seen UTV delivering some of the most iconic films including Swades, Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday, Dev D, Khosla Ka Ghosla, The Namesake, Life in a Metro, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Kaminey and more recently Raajneeti, Udaan and Peepli [Live]. Over the years, UTV has worked with some of the most eminent talent in the industry like Aamir Khan, Karan Johar, Mira Nair, M. Night Shyamalan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Prakash Jha, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Farah Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Madhur Bhandarkar, Anurag Basu and Shyam Benegal, while backing new talent like Neeraj Pandey, Raj Kumar Gupta, Nishikant Kamat, Dibakar Banerjee, Vikramaditya Motwane, Amit Trivedi and many others.
UTV opened the year 2011 on a strong note with the breakout hit No One Killed Jessica and critically acclaimed Dhobi Ghat and has an impressive slate of movies lined up for the rest of the year with Chillar Party, Arjun, Delhi Belly, My Friend Pinto, Barfee, Short Term Shaadi and many more. For any further information, please contact: Pallavi Deshmukh / Aishwarya Gurjar 97699 56801 / 96198 47047