LOS ANGELES:

Singapore firms, Aurora Media and Darpan Global have teamed to set up bestselling Indian novel “Pilgrims in the Dark” (“Timirpanthi”) as a feature film. The companies previously optioned film rights to the Gujurati-language novel by Dhruv Bhatt.

Award-winning playwright and director Dakxin Bajrange is now attached to direct the thriller from a screenplay written by Jay Bhatt (no relation). Casting is under way, ahead of an anticipated shoot from the third quarter of next year.

With a strong female protagonist, the highly researched-story details how certain tribes viewed stealing not as a crime but as a transcendental and inherited art form. (RTRS)