Sooni Taraporevala, frequent collaborator with Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, and screenwriter on films such as The Namesake, Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay, will write and direct real-life drama Ballet Boys.
The film will revolve around two Mumbai boys from the slums who, thanks to their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor, escaped poverty to become dancers at London’s Royal Ballet Academy.
Ballet Boys is based on the real-life stories of dancers Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. Taraporevala explored their stories in a VR documentary, Yeh Ballet (This Ballet), from last year.
Former Walt Disney India CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur’s banner Roy Kapur Films will produce Ballet Boys, which will be Taraporevala’s first feature as a director since her 2008 debut Little Zizou.
Kapur’s connection with Taraporevala goes back to 2006’s The Namesake, which was co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures, a banner that was acquired by Walt Disney India as part of its acquisition of parent media group UTV.
Ballet Boys’ choreographers include well-known choreographer Shiamak Davar, Maor and Cindy Jourdain. The film is currently in pre-production and slated to begin shooting in January 2019, eyeing a release date later next year.
