Production companies T-Series and Almighty Motion Picture on Friday announced that they have acquired the adaptation rights of the upcoming book "Coffee King: The Swift Rise and Sudden Death of Cafe Coffee Day Founder V.G Siddhartha".
The book has been written by investigative journalists Rukmini BR and Prosenjit Datta. It will be published by Pan Macmillan (India).
T-Series and Prabhleen Kaur Sandhu of Almighty Motion Picture in association with Karma Media Entertainment has acquired the adaptation rights from Anish Chandy of Labyrinth Literary Agency.
Siddhartha, whose chain of cafes helped make coffee a lifestyle beverage and brought in latte, cappuccino, Americano and espresso into the urban Indian lexicon, was found dead in 2019 aged 59. His body was found in the Netravati river in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka
Bhushan Kumar, chairman and managing director, T-Series said the team is elated to bring his story to the screen.
"Everyone is acquainted about Cafe Coffee Day as a brand, we are quite ecstatic to bring this intriguing biopic of the man who co-founded the country's largest retail-chain," Kumar said in a statement.
Sandhu said Cafe Coffee Day is one of India's most beloved brands and their aim is to bring all the aspects its architect Siddhartha's life on screen.
"This is a deeply researched book which gives us a lot of scope to bring out unknown facets of this great entrepreneur's life," Sandhu added.
Rukmini BR said Siddhartha's story is full of "thrilling twists and turns", while co-writer Datta dubbed him as the most "humble businessman as well as an exceedingly ambitious one".
"We are capturing this contradiction in both the book and on screen," Datta added.
Producer Shaailesh R Singh of Karma Media and Entertainment said the biopic would be one of the most exciting projects of his career.
(PTI)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)