Immortals of Meluha: Shekhar Kapur, Suparn Varma to helm first instalment of Amish Tripathi's Shiva trilogy

Shekhar Kapur and The Family Man 2 director Suparn Varma are going to join forces for the series adaptation of Amish Tripathi's Immortals of Meluha. 

While Kapur (known for films like Bandit Queen and Elizabeth) will direct, Varma will serve as the showrunner as well as director.

"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," said Kapur in a statement quoted by Variety.

Karan Johar had acquired the adaptation rights to the book in 2012, but the story never made it to screen. In 2017, the producer-filmmaker had said that he was sceptical to take this venture forward out of "fear of repercussion." This was a year after the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which faced backlash for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. 

This show will be produced by International Art Machine, which intends to foray into India with other projects as well. The banner is backed by Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios, who resigned in 2017 following allegations of sexual harassment.

The upcoming projects include The Kitty Party "a female-driven" story led by Preity Zinta. The actor said it is somewhere between "a dramedy and thriller." 

Then there is the political drama Gods helmed by Dibakar Banerjee, which will centre around family politics.