Endemol Shine India Takes Rights to Novel Lioness: The Last Queen

Endemol Shine India has acquired the rights for Lioness: The Last Queen, the forthcoming new novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

A historical book based on the life of the last Queen of India, Lioness: The Last Queen is slated to be released towards the end of this year. Divakaruni’s previously published works include Mistress of Spices, Palace of Illusions and Forest of Enchantments. Mumbai-based The Story Ink put the deal together with Endemol Shine India to bring Lioness: The Last Queen to the screen and will also be involved as one of the producers.

Abhishek Rege, CEO of Endemol Shine India, said: “Endemol Shine India is pleased to collaborate with an acclaimed author such as Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The stories she tells and the characters she etches are as inspiring as they are intriguing. With Lioness she brings alive a hero whose story is largely unknown. Authentic, motivational, patriotic yet tragic, we can’t wait to bring alive the story of this legendary queen.”

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni said: “Lioness: The Last Queen is a truthful and complex tale of an amazing woman with great qualities and fatal flaws. Her indomitable spirit and the determination with which she continued fighting the British with whatever weapons she had available to her is inspiring to us even today. I am thrilled to collaborate with Endemol Shine India and Sidharth to bring to screen this fascinating story of a queen who fought against the tyranny of the British and stood tall against the insidious cultural colonization of the time. I hope that this story is an apt ode to this lioness of India!”

Sidharth Jain, chief storyteller and producer at The Story Ink, added: “I have been patiently waiting for years to produce a project based on Chitra’s books, so when she told me about Lioness, I jumped at the opportunity. Endemol Shine India was the first company I reached out to for a collaboration and they were excited to come on board and lead the project. Couldn’t have celebrated the completion of two years of The Story Ink with a better announcement than this. Excited to get this going.”