India’s Maddock Films Unveils 15-Strong Slate, Plans for ‘Arabian Nights’ Films (EXCLUSIVE)
Prolific Indian studio Maddock Films has three successful projects currently on, 15 more in the pipeline and is developing an ambitious film series based on the “Arabian Nights.”
Laxman Utekar’s comedy-drama film “Zara Hatke Zara Bachke,” a co-production with Jio Studios starring Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, has emerged as the sleeper hit of the year grossing $11.1 million theatrically so far. Homi Adajania’s action drama series “Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo,” starring Dimple Kapadia, is a hit for streamer Disney+ Hotstar, while Arunima Sharma, Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal’s coming-of-age Prime Video drama series “Jee Karda,” starring Tamannaah Bhatia, is garnering positive reviews.
Maddock also had a major success earlier this year with Ajay Singh’s Netflix original thriller film “Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga” proving a worldwide hit for the streamer.
The upcoming film slate includes:
- An untitled film starring Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon, written and directed by Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah, described as “an impossible love story.”
- “Sector 36,” starring Vikrant Massey and Deepak Dobriyal, a thriller directed by debutant director Aditya Nimbalka.
- “Happy Teachers Day,” starring Nimrat Kaur and Radhika Madan, directed by Mikhil Musale – thriller-drama.
- “Pooja Meri Jaan,” a drama-thriller starring Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi and Vijay Raaz, directed by Navjot Gulati and co-directed by Vipasha Arvind.
- “Sarvgunn Sampann,” a family comedy starring Vaani Kapoor and Ishwak Singh, directed by Sonali Rattan Deshmukh.
- “Murder Mubarak,” starring Sara Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Pankaj Tripathi and Karisma Kapoor, directed by Homi Adajania – murder mystery.
- “Rumi Ki Sharafat,” a comedy starring Radhika Madan and Varun Sharma, directed by Prashant Bhagia.
- “Munjya,” starring Abhay Verma and Sharvari Wagh, directed by Aditya Sarpotdar – horror comedy.
- “Tehran,” starring John Abraham, Manushi Chhillar and Neeru Bajwa, directed by Arun Gopalan – action thriller.
- “Ikkis,” starring Dharmendra and Agastya Nanda, directed by Sriram Raghavan – action drama.
- “Chhaava,” starring Vicky Kaushal and Rashmika Mandanna, directed by Laxman Utekar – period action drama.
- “VOV – Vampires Of Vijay Nagar” – horror comedy
- “Shiddat 2,” starring Sunny Kaushal and Parineeti Chopra, directed by Karan Sharma – love story.
- “Stree 2,” starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurrana. directed by Amar Kaushik – horror comedy.
- “Bhediya 2,” starring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, directed by Amar Kaushik – creature comedy.
Maddock bowed in 2005 with Adajania’s “Being Cyrus” and has had several hits since, including “Love Aaj Kal” (2009), “Cocktail” (2012), “Go Goa Gone” (2013), “Badlapur” (2015), “Hindi Medium” (2017), “Stree” (2018), “Luka Chuppi” (2019), “Bala” (2019), “Mimi” (2021) and “Dasvi” (2022). What sets these films apart are that they are not formulaic.
“Our backbone has been writing because we spend at least a year and a half on a script, when it comes to series it takes almost two years,” Vijan told Variety, adding that the company’s motto is to back a director to make their best film and supporting them rather than interfering.
“We are writers- and directors-driven, not really necessarily star-driven. If you get a face, then the economics are better. But we don’t work reverse. I don’t think we are project makers – try and just put a big director and actor together – that’s not us. We like telling stories we are connected with,” Vijan said.
Maddock is also constantly giving breaks to filmmakers from all over India. “My dream is to build a company and not myself personally. I want Maddock to survive us because I think Maddock is a home for all the outsiders,” Vijan said. “We’ve got people from all across India, and every year we have a couple of directors we’re launching. Anyone who has a crazy story to tell comes to us.”
To illustrate his points Vijan provides the example of “Munjya,” a ghost story starring relative newcomers that is based on a legend from India’s Konkan region.
Vijan says that Maddock works on three fundamental principles: the story should not have a reference point, it must have commercial potential and that the actors should reinvent themselves – like Deepika Padukone in “Cocktail” and Irrfan Khan in “Hindi Medium.” “When these three come together, they give you something memorable, which you can take forward,” Vijan said.
“The new purchasing power, the new India needs stories, which are within India. The next phase of what we want to try and do is, we want to up the ante, we still want to make stories which are powerful, but if you have to go in theaters, we need to make them larger,” Vijan said.
Part of that vision is Maddock’s interpretation of “Arabian Nights,” which is currently in development. First up will be “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” followed by “Aladdin” and “Sinbad.” The plan is to cater to the Indian theatrical audience first and then go wide. The Mumbai-based Maddock is also looking to the flourishing south Indian industry.
“We want to get the best quality at the lowest possible price, that’s our basic philosophy. We will not cut corners to affect quality, but we will structure it in a way where the economics should make sense. And one thing we believe – everyone who aligns with us should make money,” Vijan said.
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