Siddharth Roy Kapur acquires rights of William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy

Renowned Bollywood producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has acquired the rights to the hugely popular history book The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of The East India Company by award-winning historian and author, William Dalrymple. The book will be adapted into a global series under Kapur’s production house, Roy Kapur Films.

Kapur is planning to get onboard a diverse international team of writers and showrunners to create a series which will boast of massive scale and great quality. Talking in detail about the project, the producer says, “I believe that stories that are compelling, relevant, and authentic have the potential to resonate with audiences across all nationalities and cultures. William Dalrymple’s epic tale of The East India Company is one such story. While a debate rages today around the world about the increasing power of giant corporations and powerful individuals to wield control over minds and nations, what could be more relevant to global viewers than the true story of the takeover of an entire subcontinent by a small trading company! We are delighted to be working with William to bring to life this fascinating tableau of incredible characters, each playing off the other in their quest to exercise dominion over what was then the richest subcontinent on the face of the Earth.”

Author William Dalrymple is already on board as a consultant for the forthcoming project. He says, “I don’t think I have ever written a book more obviously crying out to be adapted than The Anarchy and I can’t think of anyone in India better to adapt it than Siddharth Roy Kapur. I’m very excited looking at the initial treatment note, talking about the various ways to bring this book alive and to bring the characters I’ve been living with over the last 6 years onto the screen, so that everyone else can see them in flesh and blood. It’s an incredibly exciting moment and I have high expectations of this project!”