Roy Kapur Films to adapt William Dalrymple's The Anarchy into a global series

Siddharth Roy Kapur's production house, Roy Kapur Films (RKF), has acquired the rights to The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of The East India Company by historian and author William Dalrymple. The book will be adopted into a global series on the rise of the British Empire in India.

The Anarchy was listed by former US President Barack Obama amongst his Top 10 Recommended Books of 2019. Encompassing a period from 1599 to 1802, it traces the relentless rise of The East India Company against the decline and fall of the storied Mughal Empire. The book provides a account of how a provincial trading start-up, run by thirty people from an office in a nondescript London building, became rulers of an entire sub-continent; in the process establishing the richest and most powerful empire in the history of the world. 

Roy Kapur intends to put together a diverse international team of writers and showrunners to create a series that will be pathbreaking in scale and quality. He says, “I believe that stories that are compelling, relevant and authentic have the potential to resonate with audiences across all nationalities and cultures. William Dalrymple’s epic tale of the East India Company is one such story. While a debate rages today around the world about the increasing power of giant corporations and powerful individuals to wield control over minds and nations, what could be more relevant to global viewers than the true story of the takeover of an entire subcontinent by a small trading company!”

William Dalrymple, who is also on board as a consultant for the project, says, “I don’t think I have ever written a book more obviously crying out to be adapted than The Anarchy and I can’t think of anyone in India better to adapt it than Siddharth Roy Kapur. I’m very excited looking at the initial treatment note.”