'Neerja' director Ram Madhvani on to Bodhi Dharma

Sonam Kapoor in Ram's 'Neerja', which released earlier this year

Ram Madhvani returned to cinema after 14 years with the gritty, emotional roller coaster Neerja and in a recent interview with hitlist, the director had revealed plans of making a mythological film. Now, we have learnt that he is coming up with a 10-episode historical action series titled Bodhi Dharma for Amazon Prime. He is collaborating with lyricist Prasoon Joshi for the project that will trace the story of a warrior prince in 6th century who became the founder of martial arts and the Shaolin Temple in China.

Elaborating on the premise, Prasoon says, "The germ of the idea came to Ram, who'd stumbled upon the information and was convinced it would make for an enticing plot. We started writing and with brainstorming, introduced more characters. During research, we found a lot of interesting material and so, required a larger format to accommodate it all."

Ram Madhvani and Prasoon Joshi

Ram adds his focus will be on educating people about Bodhi Dharma. "We will be releasing hour-long episodes of the show, and all of them together, so that one can binge watch. Now this is the blue print of what we have. If during the course of making, we realise that there's more to add, we will be creatively honest enough to know that there is scope to do more," says Ram.

Though the casting is yet to be finalised, the director intends to start pre-production immediately. The attempt will be to create a visual spectacle without compromising on storytelling. "This is a dramatic, gut wrenching, adventure fiction tale. And in between all this, there's a cosy love story. This isn't my first tryst with action. Years ago,
I did India's first ad (for a cola brand) that had bungee jumping in it," Ram explains.