'Harry Potter' Indian version planned

Shekhar Kapur said that his next plan is to make 'the Indian equivalent' of the Harry Potter franchise.

During an interview with Times of India, the filmmaker said that people in India are "used to things that are otherworldly."

"I wanted to make Paani as an Indian production. Because one of the things that I always felt was Slumdog Millionaire, even though it made around $400 million worldwide, was not called an Indian film."

The critically-acclaimed director continued, "I really wanted Paani to be an Indian film. I came back to India to make it, even though at one point, I was thinking of making it in Spanish. I had thought of setting it in Mexico City, because we have the same problems over there, too. The same confrontations and the culture is the same. But I lost about five, six years of my life at that time."

He continued, "I am actually planning a project, which is kind of the Indian Harry Potter. I'm not making Harry Potter. But the Indian equivalent to it. Same genre. That genre of Harry Potter because I think in India, with the market we have, we are so used to things that are otherworldly. We've grown up with those kind of stories. I am now developing and probably will make a film franchise like Harry Potter, that comes out of India and not the West."

Shekhar's latest directorial outing was What's Love Got to Do with It, a rom-com starring Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shazad Latif, Sajal Aly, Oliver Chris, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza, Alice Orr-Ewing, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.