BBC Studios India has primarily been focusing on the local adaptations of its globally diverse content slate. The production company, which is a part of the International Productions and Formats business of the British media conglomerate BBC, has so far successfully adapted more than a half-dozen foreign BBC shows for Indian audiences. With the majority of the adapted shows (such as Criminal Justice, Luther, The Office, Doctor Foster, Press, and The Night Manager) proving hits on the streaming platforms, the company is now working on more such format adaptations and has greenlit two new BBC shows for their Indianization. While the crime-thriller series The Fall’s Indian adaptation has already been completed with Saqib Saleem and Regina Cassandra playing the leads, the second BBC show sanctioned for the Indian version is the BBC’s most popular show, Sherlock.
Peepingmoon.com has exclusively learned that BBC Studios India is now making the adaptation of the popular British mystery crime drama series, Sherlock. The Indian version will star Kay Kay Menon, Ranvir Shorey, and Rasika Dugal in the lead roles, while Bengali filmmaker Srijit Mukherji, who directed Pankaj Tripathi’s Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga, and Taapsee Pannu’s Mithali Raj biopic Shabaash Mithu last year, has been brought on board to helm it. The show has been in the works since last year and goes into production on April 3 in Kolkata.
Kay Kay Menon, regarded as one of the most talented actors in Indian cinema, will step into the shoes of Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch to play the titular role of Sherlock Holmes, while Ranvir Shorey will essay the character of Sherlock’s friend and confidant Dr. John Watson, originally played by Martin Freeman in the British series. Both Menon and Shorey have previously worked together in Honeymoon Travels Pvt.Ltd (2007), Sirf (2008) and Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi (2012) and are excited to collaborate again and bring unique perspectives to these two iconic characters. The plot of the original show has been contextualized for Indian culture and milieu, setting it in present-day Kolkata and Bihar. The lead characters have also been Indianized to make them relevant and engaging to the local audiences.
Sherlock is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Set in 21st-century London, the show depicts a consulting investigator and his doctor partner solving a variety of crimes and mysteries. The Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss-created series had four seasons between 2010 and 2017, and was highly praised for the quality of its writing, acting, and directing. The first season, which is being adapted in India, focuses on Sherlock’s meeting with Watson, their developing friendship, and how they begin to investigate crimes together. No OTT platform is attached for the Indian adaptation at this moment.
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