PremiumPriyanka Chopra amplifies the Oscar-nominated To Kill a Tiger with executive producer role as Netflix steps in
Priyanka Chopra joins Dev Patel and Mindy Kaling to boost the documentary series ahead of the Academy Awards.
Last Updated: 09.48 AM, Feb 25, 2024
The Oscar-nominated film To Kill a Tiger received some big news today. The acclaimed feature documentary is adding Priyanka Chopra Jonas to its roster of prominent executive producers, which also includes Mindy Kaling, Dev Patel, and others. This announcement follows a recent agreement that Netflix had inked to distribute the film internationally.
Documentary's acclaim and advocacy
According to reports in Deadline, Priyanka has been a steadfast supporter of the movie ever since it made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. The film's poignant narrative depicts a father's heroic struggle within the legal system to obtain justice for his daughter.
Among the twenty-odd accolades bestowed upon Nisha Pahuja's To Kill a Tiger are the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Best Documentary, TIFF's Amplify Voices Award, and the Canadian Screen Awards' Best Feature Documentary. In 2023, Pahuja was bestowed with the Directors Guild of Canada's Excellence in Documentary Award. The documentary made it to the Oscar shortlist and even received a nomination without any distribution in the United States; however, that will all change with the Netflix partnership.
The story of To Kill a Tiger
The film, which Pahuja worked on for eight years, follows the story of Ranjit, a poor farmer whose daughter Kiran, who was 13 years old, was the victim of a horrific sexual assault. Ranjit and his wife, Jiganti, resisted the pressure from their village to withdraw the charges against the three young men accused of the incident.
The press release for To Kill a Tiger stated that it stands as a testament to the boundless love and unyielding determination of a dedicated father for his cherished daughter.
The team behind the film
Priyanka, Dev, and Mindy aren't the only ones involved as executive producers; surgeon and best-selling author Dr. Atul Gawande, Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, writer-producer Andy Cohen (Beijing Spring), Anita Lee, Andrew Dragoumis, Shivani Rawat, Mona Sinha (Equality Now), Mala Gaonkar (Surgo Foundation), Regina Scully, Anita Bhatia, Niraj Bhatia, Deepa Mehta, and many more are also on board.
The Toronto-based director Pahuja, who was born and brought up in Canada but now calls India home, has received her first Oscar nomination. She has been in several documentaries, including Bollywood Bound (2002), Diamond Road (2007), and the Emmy-nominated 2014 film The World Before Her.
Challenges during production
Pahuja attended the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on January 23 when they announced the Oscar nominees. The announcement of their title made her a bit emotional, she admitted. The director informed Deadline that morning, leaving her unable to believe it.
During the production of the documentary, Ranjit and his family, along with Pahuja and her crew, were the targets of death threats, according to the international publication's recently released Oscar-themed magazine. While Ranjit and his family were filming inside their home, enraged people stormed the property and threatened to torch it because the family would not give up on the issue. Pahuja considered stopping manufacturing due to the unsafe circumstances.
Pahuja of Notice Pictures Inc., Cornelia Principe, and David Oppenheim of the National Board of Canada are among the producers of To Kill a Tiger.