Los Angeles, Oct 28 (UNI) National Award-winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji is set to helm an ambitious biographical drama on Arthur Conan Doyle, the celebrated creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Titled Elementary, ‘My Dear Holmes’, the project will explore the life of Doyle beyond his fictional detective, delving into his moral dilemmas and real-world pursuit of justice.
According to Variety, the film will be a British-Indian co-production, with the Conan Doyle Estate onboard as an associate producer. It will be produced by Shahnaab Alam through London-based Invisible Thread Media, while Mukherji’s Matchcut Productions will oversee the India segment.
Set in London in 1906, the film follows Doyle as he grapples with personal and ethical challenges, from honoring his dying wife’s wish for him to remarry, to investigating real cases of wrongful convictions, including those of George Edalji, a British-Indian man falsely accused of animal mutilation, and Oscar Slater, another victim of injustice.
In the story, Doyle mirrors the qualities of his own creation, using sharp intellect and moral conviction to uncover truths far removed from fiction.
Reflecting on his connection to the author, Mukherji said, “I first met Sherlock Holmes as a boy, not in Baker Street, but in the quiet between pages. Elementary, My Dear Holmes imagines Doyle stepping into his own fiction- a man haunted by the clarity he created, forced to apply it to a world far messier than the one on paper.”
Developed under the UK-India Co-Production Treaty, jointly administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) and India’s NFDC, the project celebrates the creative and cultural synergy between the two nations.
Renowned for his powerful storytelling and mastery of period pieces, Mukherji has directed acclaimed films such as Jaatishwar, Chotushkone, Rajkahini, and Gumnaami. He received the National Award for Best Director in 2015 for Chotushkone.
This Indo-British production promises to bring together literary history, investigative intrigue, and cross-cultural storytelling on an international scale.
