The actress joins Tom Bateman, Lesley Nicol, Gregory Fitoussi, Adil Ray, Marc Warren, and Pallavi Sharda on the period drama set in the cusp of 19th century Delhi.
Shriya Pilgaonkar cast in Gurinder Chadha’s British series Beecham House
Mumbai - 27 Aug 2018 14:36 IST
Sonal Pandya
Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha is moving from the Viceroy’s House (2017) to Beecham House for her next project. The writer-director is currently filming the six-part ITV television series in Ealing Studios, London. ITV is a television channel based in the United Kingdom with operations in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Actress Shriya Pilgaonkar confirmed her casting in the series. Pilgaonkar will play an Indian nursemaid, Chanchal, who accompanies her employer John Beecham, a former soldier, to Beecham House.
“It is the story of the residents of this palatial house and what happens when John Beecham arrives with a mysterious child and his caretaker. My character, Chanchal, is an intriguing, ambitious, passionate and secretive girl with a mysterious past. She has an interesting track and I’m looking forward to seeing how the evolves,” the actress told Mumbai Mirror, a daily tabloid.
The actress, daughter of Marathi artistes Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar, made her Hindi film debut with Fan (2016), starring Shah Rukh Khan. She has also acted in the French production Un Plus Une (2015).
In a press release, Chadha had stated her enthusiasm for the series, “Beecham House is a passion project that is driven by my commitment to telling diverse, emotionally engaging stories for mainstream international audiences. I am thrilled to be working with Polly Hill and ITV Drama who share my belief that period drama can be entertaining, ambitious and relevant to key issues of today.
"I am assembling a vibrant cast of British and Indian actors to play original characters that will appeal to global audiences hungry to see stories from a unique point of view. I grew up with Raj dramas like Jewel in the Crown, The Far Pavilions and A Passage To India. Beecham House is my chance to tell those stories from a British Asian perspective.”
Beecham House, written by Chadha, her husband Paul Mayeda Berges, Shahrukh Husain and Victor Levin, is due to be aired on British television in 2019. The series will also be filmed in India at some point.
