Subhash Kapoor to direct web series on Nanavati case for Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji

Director Subhash Kapoor has been roped in by Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji for a web series based on the infamous Nanavati case. As per an official statement by the makers, the show is currently in the pre-production stage and the cast is yet to be finalised.

Director Tinu Suresh Desai’s Rustom (2016), starring Akshay Kumar and Ileana D'Cruz, was loosely based on the 1959 case.

The Nanavati case refers to the murder of businessman Prem Ahuja by naval officer Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati. Ahuja was allegedly in a relationship with Nanavati's wife, Sylvia. Nanavati shot the Ahuja after the latter made it clear that he had no intentions of marrying Sylvia and accepting their children. Soon after, Nanavati surrendered to the deputy commissioner of police.

The court proceedings began and Nanavati was initially declared not guilty by the jury. However, the jury verdict was dismissed by the Bombay high court believing that jury was influenced by the media, especially the Blitz magazine. The court sentenced Nanavati to life imprisonment for pre-meditated murder. The Supreme Court too upheld the high court verdict.

However, after spending 3 years in prison, he was pardoned by the then governor of Bombay, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, sister of prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nanavati then shifted to Canada, where he died in 2003.

Apart from Rustom, RK Nayyar’s Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963) and Gulzar’s Achanak (1973) were also based on the Nanavati case.