Indian actor and producer Koel Purie Rinchet is bringing the history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond to life on our television screens.
“This famous and cursed diamond wreaked untold devastation as it was viciously ripped from one royal hand to another. It has ended up in its final home, the Tower of London, after being gruesomely wrested from the hands of its last owner, a nine-year-old Maharaja.”
Like most of the treasures that Europeans looted throughout its colonial conquests, the Koh-i-Noor too has a disputed history. The sub-continental countries (Pakistan and India) assert that the British royals stole it from the region. This intriguing premise has now been turned into a TV show, which throws a spotlight on one of the most valuable diamonds in the world.
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The show will actually be based on the non-fiction book Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond. Historian William Dalrymple and journalist Anita Anand teamed up to write this tale. In 2017, the book was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
The book doesn’t just cover the coveted gem’s history. It also charts the various myths surrounding the famous diamond.
There’s no doubt the Koh-i-Noor is a regional treasure. The gem was passed through the hands of Mughal princes, Iranian warriors, Afghan rulers and Punjabi Maharajas before becoming the star of the British Crown Jewels. It is said that the stone was ‘ceded to Queen Victoria’ when the British colonized Punjab in 1849.
Aside from Koel Purie Rinchett, LA-based producer Raquel Carreras, and Mumbai-based producer Kamayani Punia are producing this series under the banner of 185 Carat Films. British firm David Godwin Associates is also in the mix.
According to Deadline, the three producers are currently interviewing potential show-runners and writers for the project.
“The international TV and web space has never witnessed a historical story of this magnitude, where bloodshed, love, sex, intrigue, beauty and cruelty all come together to create a layered narrative, … This story, rooted in South Asia and traversing countries like Afghanistan and Iran, has a unique international appeal. It is a timely story of greed, power and appropriation regardless of cost.”
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William Dalrymple previously wrote and presented the TV series Stones of the Raj and Indian Journeys. He even won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series in 2002 for the show.
