After ‘24’, Kapoor to don the avatar of a famous sleuth.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: After bringing the wildly successful American television show “24” to India last year, Anil Kapoor is set to bring another, more well-known character – Sherlock Holmes.
A ruling in Chicago by Judge Ruben Castillo has granted Kapoor permission to go into production on a Punjabi film featuring the famous sleuth. While confirming that certain stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are protected by copyright laws, Castillo also said that many now belong in the public domain, and are therefore perfectly useable.
Kapoor is hoping that his take on Sherlock Holmes will piggyback on the character’s sudden pop culture resurgence over the last several years. In 2009, Warner Bros. Pictures launched a film franchise based around the character with Sherlock Holmes. Starring Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man) as the titular detective and Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) as the ever-faithful Dr. John Watson, the film took in over $525 million at the worldwide box office, and was followed by a sequel in 2011, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which made slightly more money.
The BBC also launched its own TV series, entitled “Sherlock,” in 2010. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit films) as Holmes and Watson, the series became an international sensation, and just recently debuted its third season in the US.
Careful not to fall behind, CBS also launched a Sherlock Holmes-based show in 2012 entitled “Elementary,” which stars Johnny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) as Holmes and Lucy Liu (Kill Bill) as a female Dr. Joan Watson. The show has proved to be reasonably successful and is currently in the midst of its second season.
There is no word yet as to when Kapoor’s Sherlock Holmes film will hit screens, but it is set to go into production soon. It is backed by Chinese financier Han Sanping, who owns the China Film Group. The country has been increasingly crucial in the film world, with more and more blockbusters being specifically catered to Chinese audiences in the hopes of maximizing their profits there. Last year’s highest-grossing film, Iron Man 3, had several scenes shot just for the Chinese version of the movie, with popular Chinese actors as well.
The role of Sherlock Holmes has been highly sought-after in Bollywood. Recent rumors had pegged Shahrukh Khan as the leading candidate to star in a film based on the renowned detective, and Khan was supposedly keen to take the role. Those plans seem to have died now, as Anil Kapoor will attempt to continue his string of success in translating American hits for Indian audiences; Kapoor’s version of “24” was the first of its kind for Indian television, and proved to be enough of a hit that talks of a second season are currently underway.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com