Fledgling Mumbai-based production outfit Azure Entertainment and Warner Bros. India have announced a collaboration to jointly invest in and produce an Indian remake of classic Hong Kong crime thriller “Infernal Affairs.” The director and cast are yet to be finalized.
The 2002 original was directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak and was the first part of a trilogy. Martin Scorsese remade it as “The Departed” in 2006.
The project is the first of a two-picture deal to develop, produce and distribute titles from the Warner Bros. library for the Indian market.
Azure was set up by Sunir Kheterpal, who previously had stints with Adlabs-Reliance Entertainment and the Hinduja Group. It produced the Hindi-language remake of Korean film “The Man From Nowhere,” titled “Rocky Handsome.”
The company’s remake development slate includes deals with Rodar y Rodar for Spanish film “The Body,” Atresmedia for Spanish film “The Invisible Guest,” with Gaumont for French titles “Gang Story” and “Point Blank” and with Quad for French film “Heartbreaker.” The company also has the Indian remake rights for Sophie Kinsella’s bestselling novel “Can you keep a Secret?”
“Azure are ideally placed to adapt and develop foreign language source material into Indian language remakes,” said Denzil Dias, MD, Warner Bros. India.
