The Indian economy has once again gained its place on the international horizon. The Hindi version of John le Carre’s best seller The Night Manager featuring Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor and Samantha Ruth Prabhu has got a nomination for the International Emmys 2024 for the category of Best Drama Series. It is a great accomplishment for India as it is the only Indian candidate whose name has been included in this year’s contest.
The administration’s information about the nominations was provided by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and Bruce L. Paisner, the President & CEO of the International Academy, praised the nominated programs for their inherent cross cultural storytelling. His efforts to bring together the fan base of such encouraging and exceptional drama irrespective of where they are from.
To add to the thrill, Indian stand-up comedian and actor Vir Das has been chosen as the host of the 2024 International Emmys. Former Emilou nominated and winner of an Emmy Award for his Netflix model specials Das thanked and looked forward to such an opportunity. His hosting gig is a golden day in terms of Indian representation in the history of the event.
The Night Manager, which is adapted from John le Carré’s classic nove, tells a story about tenders and spies. The Indian version of the series, created by The Ink Factory and Banijay Asia, tells the story of a night manager in a five-star hotel, who was a soldier before. Enlisted in an intelligence agency, he acts as an undercover agent hunting down a high-profile arms dealer and discovers espionage that’s thrilling and seductive at the same time.
Sumanta Bose, HSM Business Head and Content Head of Disney+Hotstar (Hindi) offered, “It has done a show in India, which now happily gets nominated for the International Emmys, helping to establish the night manager as a worldwide character and phenomenon. Everybody’s hard work, skill and determination are much valued in this recognition which is extended in proficient ways but our zeal to give the audiences the best stories remains year in year out.”
Simon Cornwell, CEO and Founding member at The Ink Factory stated that, “The Gen 2 filmmaker In the Ink Factory, I machines have enough work in retelling old tales from new points of view and embedding them in the new background and recreating Sir John le Carré. Certainly, The Night Manager is a good Indian story. And we are extremely delighted that it has found and is finding audiences, worldwide. There is no better combination than this where the sensitive work is handled by versatile actors :- Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor, Sobhita Dhulipala; a visionary like Sandeep Modi and second unit director Priyanka Ghose; and where, a streaming partner is Disney+ Hotstar. They have dished out international Emmy nominations, such opportunities are rare: there is a stellar month for areas where the crush India and the majority of them will start. Jumping out of such a great opportunity inspires in all “Into the Not able to nominate is given great honour. We will continue to try to engage the audience in Greece and scouring India headquarter inspiring and supportive.”
Deepak Dhar, Founder and CEO of Banijay Asia, commented: “The Night Manager is a story that is known internationally and to produce it here in the Indian setting was one of the biggest challenges toobut it was an honor.”
The juiciest bit of the film was the star cast consisting of whopping personalities like Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sobhita Dhulipala who did justice to the role. The vision and flawless execution done by Showrunner Director Sandeep Modi, Director Priyanka Ghosh, Creative Head Shridhar Raghavan and all the technical crew was such that the Indian version was as interesting, if not more.” He further added, “Getting an International Emmy nomination is indeed a crowning achievement to the industry within India and rightly so, to the content produced by her.”
Director & Show Runner Sandeep Modi said, “The Night Manager was the toughest in terms of retelling the same story without making it sound like a repeated one. All of the characters have been sculpted so well that they resonate with the Indian society and the people. It’s tilt and am glad that The Night Manager is the maiden Indian nomination to the International Emmys Awards. Without our wonderful partners, this would not have been feasible; Banijay Asia, The Ink Factory and Disney+ Hot Star. The entire team deserves praise for this achievement.”
Anil Kapoor, who plays the role Shailendra Rungta in Disney+ Hotstar’s The Night Manager, said, “The excitement of having your name in a nomination for an Emmy awards is surreal, even after such a long time in the business.”
All the members of the cast including the likes of Aditya Roy Kapur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Tillotama Shome, the creators of the show Sandeep Modi, Priyanka Ghose, Shridhar Raghavan, the wonderful writers Akshat Ghildial and Shantanu Srivastava, Director of Photography Ben Jasper and each and every actor and the people who lent their support and worked behind the camera have found their true meaning of contribution towards this show. Each one of us worked really hard on this particular project. It is very humbling to watch it go over and connect with an audience all over the world, and now to be told that pretty soon, it will be so recognized is astonishing. I have always imagined, when you are putting your heart and soul and doing the hard work, it does not matter where you come from, it will speak for itself and this nomination is an example of that. This is going to be a huge achievement for all those who have supported this project since its inception. Shelly is the 140th character in my career spanning 45 years, and such moments are what I live for, to do 140 more! Here’s to adoring our Indian roots by taking part on international scenes and over the years, breaking the stereotypes!”
Aditya Roy Kapur, who essayed the role of Shaan Sengupta aka The Night Manager said, “This is my first series and I am nominated for an Emmy – wow! Getting an Emmy Nomination for my first series.. wow! Right from day one, there was a feeling that we were onto something different while making The Night Manager but for this show to attract and keep so much love and attention within the country and further to around the globe none of what we expected.
Every now and again we have a moment like this that deserves to be celebrated! Sandeep, Anil Sir, Sobhita, Tilotamma, the team of Disney+Hotstar and every person from the cast and crew – this piece is dedicated to all the hard work and dedication that people have put in.”
Kaveri’s Sobhita Dhulipala expressed “Oh! This is such a great news!” Very happy for the directors Sandëep Modi and Priyanka Ghose and out lovely technical team. This is really really inspiring and touching. Big salute to Anil Sir, Aditya, Tillotama and other cast members on this excellent moment and share happiness! And a huge round of applause for the low budget producers Disney+Hotstar, Banijay India and InkFactory for such a great initiative to promote and produce this project.”
The series has been directed by Sandeep Modi and it features a number of well-known actors. Among them are Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Tillotama Shome, Saswata Chatterjee, Ravi Behl. The series was released on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.
In the Indian adaptation of the night manager series, Aditya Roy Kapur plays Shaan Sengupta, a night manager in a Dhaka hotel who gets caught up with Shailendra, an international arms dealer played by Anil Kapoor. It is when Shaan helplessly witnesses an act of extreme violence that this dauntless gentle man find himself locked into a deadly situation.