After author Amish Tripathi shut down speculation earlier this month about actor Ranveer Singh playing Lord Shiva in a film adaptation of The Immortals Of Meluha, rumours of another project based on the bestselling novel began doing the rounds. Reports claimed that director-screenwriter Suparn S Varma has been researching the project for the past two years. However, when contacted, Suparn clarifies that he is not involved in any new film adaptation of the book. “I wish I was. I would love to be, but no,” he shares.

The 51-year-old adds, “I had worked on it earlier when Roy Price (US producer and former Amazon executive) had taken the rights. It is one of my most beloved projects. But it didn’t transpire then. I think the rights have gone back to Amish.”

We also reached out to Amish, who says reports of any movie deal being signed for the Shiva Trilogy “isn’t true at all”. “Lots of deals have happened earlier but nothing has been made as yet, ” he says, adding, “Quality is more important than speed. I don’t mind it if it takes time.”

(L to R) Shekhar Kapur; Suparn Varma; Karan Johar and Amish Tripathi

Content studio, International Art Machine, led by ex-head of Amazon Video, Roy Price whose series have won multiple Emmy, Bafta and Golden Globe awards, is all set to make its mark in India with a power-packed line-up. Beginning its slate with one of India’s fastest-selling book series in publishing history, the Shiva Trilogy by acclaimed author Amish Tripathi, it has signed Oscar and National Award-winning director Shekhar Kapur to helm this project along with sought-after writer-director Suparn S Varma as director and showrunner.

Talking about the project, Shekhar Kapur said, “Amish’s Shiva Trilogy has been India’s great publishing sensation, crossing every age and class. It’s not just mythology, it’s modern storytelling at its best. Lending itself to a beautiful international series.”

“One couldn’t have asked for a better team than this to take my books into the audio-visual world. I am sure that with a team like this, we will create a web series that is worthy of Lord Shiva,” said Amish Tripathi.

“The look of the adaptation will be unlike anything seen by viewers before, the books by Amish are the blueprint to build our imagination. Now we seek to surprise the audiences and him,” said Suparn S Varma.

“I could not imagine a better project to start International Art Machine’s life than Shiva, and there is no better dream team to fully realise the potential of Amish’s novels than Shekhar Kapur and Suparn S Varma. It was meant to be!” said Roy Price, CEO and Founder, International Art Machine.

As they enter India, the content studio is committed to creating credible, creative and commercial stories across theatrical and digital platforms, and they have an exciting upcoming slate.

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In 2012, Karan Johar had created a buzz in Bollywood when he acquired the adaptation rights of Amish Tripathi’s bestseller, The Immortals Of Meluha. The adaptation, however, did not materialise, and Johar’s remake rights reportedly expired in 2017. But every story has its fate. It looks like Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy is destined to play out on the screen. Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has joined forces with The Family Man 2 director Suparn S Varma to helm a show based on the first book of the mythological fantasy series.

For Varma, who serves as the showrunner and director of the series, it is a responsibility and an honour to bring alive the author’s written word on the screen. He has had multiple discussions with Kapur and Tripathi to ensure they are creatively aligned. “The Meluha trilogy is a genre-defining book. With Amish, it has been a meeting of minds from the first discussion. His ambition reflected in the book is contagious, and to translate his epic on screen is a responsibility I’m happy to take on,” says Varma. 

The project is all the more special as it unites him with one of his idols. “Shekhar Kapur is a film school. Collaborating with him is a journey that will involve discoveries about life, the world we live in, and the one we seek to create.”

While many filmmakers have evinced interest in adapting the trilogy, Tripathi says he is assured of Kapur and Varma’s vision for the story. “There is grandeur to the story, especially showing worlds that have never been seen before on OTT screens, such as the Indus-Saraswati civilisation. But at its core, the series will chronicle the extraordinary journey of a hero.”

Kapur views the trilogy as a story that cuts across age and genre. “It’s not just mythology, it’s modern storytelling at its best [that] lends itself to a beautiful international series,” he says. The team will begin casting soon.

Backing the trilogy is International Art Machine, which intends to foray into Indian entertainment with the project. Roy Price, CEO of the studio, says, “Our goal is to partner with creators across Asia to produce series that will carry the banner of Asian originals abroad.”

The studio also has Dibakar Banerjee’s political thriller Kitty Party, and the Preity Zinta-helmed dramedy, Gods, in the pipeline.