Mohindra \u2013 who\u00a0made her writing debut last year with short film\u00a0The People Under the Moon<\/a> \u2013 has secured a development deal with Urban Myth Films (War of the Worlds, Atlantis) to adapt journalist and BBC presenter Anita Anand\u2019s book, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> about the project, she revealed: \u201cI re-read Anita\u2019s book during\u00a0lockdown and just sort of became obsessed by the life of Sophia Duleep Singh, who was the daughter of the last Maharaja of North India and was chosen to be one of Queen Victoria\u2019s god-children, because she had a lot of these god-children who were\u00a0 the fallen princesses and princes of deposed kings and queens, from the empires that got consumed by the British Empire.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI just couldn\u2019t stop thinking about her. She just sprung off the page \u2013 and huge credit to Anita for drawing all of that stuff out of Sophia\u2019s diaries. She [Singh] is a very witty character and surprisingly progressive in the way that she thought about life and the world. I just fell in love with her a little bit.\u201d<\/span><\/p> Mohindra wrote a pilot for a series based on Singh\u2019s life on spec, which her agent then sent out to several production companies \u201cI thought the most I\u2019d get out of it would be a cup of tea, and some pointers in in my early writing career,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut within three days, they [Urban Myth] had read it, liked it, and offered a deal to develop it, and to option Anita\u2019s book.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI literally\u2026 I\u2019m still unable to process it. This has been the most exciting coup of my career so far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mohindra is now working on redeveloping the pilot episode, after which the series will be pitched to broadcasters and streaming services. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of buzz around it, so hopefully there will be a bit of a battle for it!\u201d<\/p>\n Following her father\u2019s exile to England, Sophia Duleep Singh lived in lived in\u00a0Hampton Court in an apartment in Faraday House given to her by Queen Victoria. She went on to become one of several Indian women who pioneered the cause of women\u2019s rights in Britain in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n Her story and its themes held a strong personal appeal for Mohindra. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to write about belonging,\u201d she explained. \u201cBecause I feel like the conversation about representation is [about] feeling accepted, but I want so much more than that. I want to go beyond the feeling of just being included. Actually, our history is to be honoured, because some of the people whose cause Sophia fought for were <\/span>pivotal in World War One \u2013 the British Indian soldiers of World War One \u2013 and I feel like that gets forgotten about.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone when I was younger said, \u2018Go home! Go back home!\u2019 and that has stuck with me forever. It\u2019s become a little thorn in my side. I want people to understand why this is<\/em> our home just as much as it is anybody else\u2019s. I think that\u2019s probably what spoke to me the most about her in the book.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Anjli Mohindra stars in Vigil, airing Sunday nights at 9pm on BBC One. Visit our Drama<\/a> hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n “I just couldn’t stop thinking about her,” reveals the Vigil star. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4277,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/09\/anjli-mohindra-on-her-princess-sophia-duleep-singh-biopic-ive-always-wanted-to-write-about-belonging.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\"I just couldn't stop thinking about her,\" reveals the Vigil star.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Sophia\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/sophia-duleep-singh-6891b58.jpg?quality=90&crop=7px%2C61px%2C1011px%2C673px&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Our\\"")
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