Author Anand Neelakantan’s Baahubali prequel novel, The Rise of Sivagami, is already under production as the next Netflix original series from India, titled Baahubali: Before The Beginning. His latest book, however, heads to the big screen as it is being adapted by DAR Motion Pictures for a multi-lingual feature.
The novel, titled Vanara: The Legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara, tells the story of Vanara brothers Baali and Sugreeva from the Ramayana and their love triangle with Tara.
Author Anand Neelakantan said in a statement, “Vanara, published by Penguin, is my best work till date and I am sure the producers are capable of making it a great film. It is also a matter of pride and joy that the book rights were adopted within 2 days of its release, thanks to the Story Ink.”
Sidharth Jain, chief storyteller at The Story Ink, a company that specialises in book to screen adaptations, stated, “Amongst the 40 plus book to screen adaptation deals done by us in the last six months, Anand’s Vanara is not only our most ambitious multi-lingual film deal, but also the highest value single-book deal of the year. With this project we are aggressively moving towards packaging impactful projects by connecting the right stories with the right talent and studios.”
Vivek Rangachari, producer at DAR Motion Pictures, said of the upcoming adaptation, “Mythology as depicted in Anand Neelakantan’s books is not just contemporary but also puts our cultural history into context.”
DAR Motion Pictures is also producing Ritesh Batra’s Photograph, the Hindi remake of Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days (2014), and the biopics of volleyball player-turned-mountaineer Arunima Sinha and Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan.