Abhinay Deo is neck deep in work. The ad and feature filmmaker is co-producing, co-writing and directing the Indian version of the popular American TV series “24” in collaboration with Anil Kapoor. The show is about the life of counter terrorist agent Jack Bauer. Anil's first association with the show came two years ago when he was cast in its seventh season. He is taking the relationship forward by bringing the series to India.
“The rights to the show have been procured by Anil Kapoor. After watching “Delhi Belly” he wanted me to direct the series. “Of course, I felt honoured,” says Deo. “Delhi Belly” is now being remade in Tamil. Abhinay's production house Ramesh Deo Productions is co-producing the TV series with Anil Kapoor Productions. “Creativity happens when you have control over production. Gladly, Anil thinks so too and that's why he was open to my production house co-producing 24,” he says. Abhinay is also writing the script for the series along with Rensil D'Silva (“Rang De Basanti”, “Kurbaan”) and Bhavani Iyer (“Black”, “Guzaarish”). The trio is completely rewriting the story to adapt it to India's social milieu.
While casting will be finalised once the script is locked in a few weeks' time, Anil Kapoor will definitely be part of the cast. Reportedly, he may play the lead role essayed by Kiefer Sutherland in the original. Many are expecting “24” (the name might be suitably Indianised) to be a game changer on Indian television.
Meanwhile, Abhinay, who is just back from the Harvard Business School where he was invited to present the keynote on the changing face of Indian cinema pegged on the success of “Delhi Belly”, is overwhelmed by the response he received. “I was amazed that 40 per cent of my listeners were Westerners. Most of them were upset that we released the film only in India centres, especially because it was mainly an English language film. They were interested in the marketing strategy that we employed and the business it did. It was a unique film that broke clichés and boundaries usually followed by Indian cinema. They showed keen interest in bringing their skills as well as funding into Hindi films. That was brilliant,” says the filmmaker. He says that the recent LA Film Festival too saw a packed screening of “Delhi Belly” and an enthusiastic interactive session thereafter.
Abhinay has three film scripts under way which he will take to producers once his preliminary work on “24” is done. From ads to features to television, he is happy to surf all three mediums. “Advertising is what I began with, films are in my genes (his parents Ramesh and Seema are veteran Marathi actors) and television has come to me. I think I am blessed to have it all!” he signs off, getting back to his writer's desk.
