Shaad Ali to direct the Indian adaptation of British crime drama Guilt

BBC Studios India and India’s Applause Entertainment have come together for the Indian adaptation of the British crime drama Guilt, The untitled series will be directed by Shaad Ali who has earlier helmed movies like Saathiya, Bunty Aur Babli, Ok Jaanu, and others.

The series will feature Jaideep Ahlawat and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub in the lead roles, and Tina Desai, Shruti Seth, Maya Alagh, Mugdha Godse, and Satish Kaushik will be seen in pivotal roles.

While talking about the Indian adaptation of Guilt, Matt Forde, MD international production and formats, BBC Studios, told Variety, “Fundamentally we know that crime dramas have a very strong resonance in India. So, (what) we’re looking for in our catalog, or in our new shows, (are) those sorts of themes. And, of course, they’re equally popular in the U.K. They have global appeal as well.”

CEO of Applause Entertainment, Sameer Nair, told Variety, “Once we think that this is something that would work in India, then we obviously try to stay close to source material, because that’s the reason why we acquired the format in the first place. But that being said that we do a lot of localization and even contextualizing it to the Indian culture and milieu and people.”

Earlier, Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios had collaborated for the Indian versions of The Office and Criminal Justice. They also have Ajay Devgn starrer Rudra – The Edge of Darkness currently in production. It is the adaptation of the British series Luther.