Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is set to adapt renowned British mystery writer Agatha Christie’s works into a film franchise for Indian audiences. Bhardwaj is already known for his thrilling and creative adaptations of Shakespearean creations like Omkara based on Othello, Haider on Hamlet, and Maqbool based on Macbeth.
In an interview with The Times of India, he revealed how he came to this decision. He said that he was stuck in his Mussoorie home during the epidemic and wondered how filming would be possible due to Covid-19. He was reading classic murder mysteries, like Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie, when the idea came to him. He said, “My location and my situation gave me an idea – of the sort of movie that can be made in such a situation,”. He decided to shoot a film franchise on Agatha Christie’s works, which could be shot at one location.
He has already signed a deal with Agatha Christie Estate, a body that manages the rights to her works, and is set to bring films to India.
While speaking to the Time of India, Vishal bhardwaj told,
“I proposed to the estate that I want to take two characters from the story, a boy and a girl who are not professional detectives, and make a franchise out of them – and they loved the idea! I’m going to place the story in Auli since the whole plot is rooted in mountains, and the mountains are a character in the story.“
Agatha Christie is one of the world’s best-selling mystery writers and has a huge fan base. Notable works like his Murder such as Orient Express and Death on the Nile have already been done in successful films. It would be very interesting to see his stories played by Bhardwaj and weave it with Indian elements and culturally relevant factors. He said, “I am very excited because it has given me the opportunity to explore Agatha Christie in our context … which puts them in our social, political background”.
Vishal Bhardwaj adds a unique touch to all those films, and we can’t wait to see what tricks he has for his upcoming franchise!