‘Jungle Prince Of Delhi’ FIlm, Based On NYT Story, In Development At Amazon With Mira Nair, Sister & Krasnoff/Foster

Peter White
·3 min read

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The Jungle Prince of Delhi, a film based on the New York Times exposé about the fake royal family of Oudh, is in development as a feature film at Amazon.

The streamer has secured the exclusive rights to the story, which was also profiled on the paper’s podcast The Daily and was a 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

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Mira Nair, who recently directed six-part BBC drama A Suitable Boy, is attached to direct and exec produce. The project, which is in development, comes from Chernobyl producer Sister, Community producer Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment and Fourth and Twenty Eight Films, run by Philadelphia Eagles minority owner Christina Lurie.

The feature tells the story of the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats living in a ruined palace in the Indian capital, claiming to be the heirs to a fallen kingdom. Written by Ellen Barry, it turns out that Prince Cyrus, who claimed to be a member of the Muslim kingdom captured by the British East India company in the 19th century was in fact Mickey Butt, the son of the registrar of Lucknow University.

The project is being adapted into an international series that tells the story of the family, set against the backdrop of the partition of India.

It was brought together by Stacey Snider, Jane Featherstone and Kate Fenske from Sister, Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff from Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment, Christina Lurie and Ellen Barry and Caitlin Roper of The New York Times.

Nair is an Academy-Award nominated director best known for films including Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding.

Caitlin Roper, Head of Scripted Entertainment at The New York Times, said, “Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ellen Barry’s beautifully written tale of the Oudh family revealed deeper truths rooted in the violence and trauma of the partition of India. The moving story, and the three-part audio series for The Times’s podcast, The Daily, were the result of years of reporting and investigation across continents.”

“Since its publication, The Times has been searching for the right partners to expand the story’s reach and we are thrilled to work with the incomparable Mira Nair, and to be producing The Jungle Prince series with Amazon Studios alongside Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment, Sister, and Fourth and Twenty Eight Films,” she added.

Anonymous Content represented The New York Times and Nair is represented by ICM Partners.

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