Conceived before Coronavirus hit the world, Ship of Theseus director Anand Gandhi tweaks contagion drama Emergence to focus on the post-pandemic world
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; May 11, 2020)

Over the past five years, Ship Of Theseus director Anand Gandhi had been writing his next, oblivious that it would turn eerily prophetic. Gandhi's film, titled Emergence, revolves around four scientists who have to find a way to save the population from a pandemic. With the world currently grappling with the Coronavirus, the director has gone back to the drawing board to tweak the story.

"[Earlier] we had planned to give information about the nature of a pandemic [through the film]. Now that we all know what it's like to be in the midst of one, I don't have to educate the audience about its nuances. So, we have had to make some changes in the script," explains the filmmaker.

Since the universe of his story is unfortunately all too familiar to the world at large, Gandhi now intends to take a narrative leap. "I can directly take the audience to the next stage and depict how life could be post-pandemic. That is the new normal we will experience. That was always the crux of my story."

When conceived, the story was set in 2020. The director, who hopes to take it on floors next year, is fast-forwarding the setting of his sci-fi drama to 2025. While he had earlier expressed his wish to cast Irrfan in the film, Gandhi now plans to approach Sushant Singh Rajput. "It's unfortunate that I took so long to write it. I wish Irrfan Khan would have been a part of it. Sushant is a dear friend. So, I always work on the assumption that he will be part of what I create. I have Australian actor Hugo Weaving in mind. I also need four women actors for the principal cast."

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 1, 2014)

You've seen him as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy and Elrond in the The Lord of the Rings series. Now, Hugo Weaving, the Hollywood actor of Australian origin, will be seen in an Indian film to be helmed by Ship of Theseus (SoT) director Anand Gandhi. It will go on the floors in early 2015.

Mirror has learnt that Hugo, who presented Anand's internationally-acclaimed philosophical drama in Australia, has given the nod to the director's second full-length feature.

Revealed a source close to the development, "Anand had met Hugo during the Melbourne International Film Festival and Ship of Theseus left the actor awestruck. The two had discussed the possibility of collaborating back then, but nothing was finalised. Hugo was recently presented with the idea which he liked."

Confirming the same, Anand told Mirror, "Yes, I spoke to Hugo recently and gave him a lengthy narration of a character I've written with him in mind and a brief of the script that I'm still in the process of developing. He loved the idea and has given me the go-ahead."

Anand is tight-lipped about the details of the project, but said it will be a big-scale period-drama. The director intends to start once his next production, Tumbad, releases.