India’s Matchbox Shots has acquired the screening rights to “Gurugram School Murders,” a story by crime journalist Reena Dhankar about the 2017 child murders at an elite school in Gurgaon.
The adaptation is based on Dhankar’s reporting on one of India’s most prominent criminal cases. On September 8, 2017, a seven-year-old boy, known to the public as Prince, was found with his throat slit in a school bathroom. Local police initially detained the innocent school bus conductor, but the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a fellow student on suspicion of carrying out the murder to secure the postponement of the exam.
The project is being helmed by Dikssha Jyote Routray of Matchbox Shots.
“What happened in this case is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Routley said. “This is a tragedy that reveals dark truths about the pressures shaping young children in modern urban India. Our commitment is to tell this story with the carefully researched nuance it deserves.”
“This is not just a crime story, but a story of a family’s pain and years of struggle for justice,” Dhankar added. “Through this story, we hope more people understand the emotional devastation this incident left behind. The family lived with loss every day. Justice must prevail without compromise.”
The project has the backing of Prince’s father, who continues to seek accountability for the incident.
“There wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t think about him or miss him,” he said. “Our struggle is painfully long and will continue until those who are guilty receive the harshest punishment. We want the truth to reach more people so that society understands our pain and those responsible are never spared.”
Matchbox Shots is a Mumbai-based production company led by filmmaker Sriram Raghavan. The company’s credits include ‘Andhadhun’, ‘Scoop’, ‘IC 814: TheKandahar Hijack’ and ‘Khauf’. The company is headed by producers Sanjay Routray, Dikssha Jyote Routray and Sarita Patil. The war drama series “Operation Safed Sagal” is scheduled to be distributed on Netflix.
