Nitya Mehra (Baar Baar Dekho) and Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) are set to make the animated feature Diya from Reel FX Originals, Deadline first reported.
Diya is going to be a new animated feature in the vein of its 2014 20th Century Fox title, The Book of Life. Mehra will direct the new film, with Nayyar serving as executive producer. Directed by Jorge R. Gutiérrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro, The Book of Life was a tale based in Mexican mythology which followed Manolo (Diego Luna), a bullfighter embarking on a fantastical adventure on the Day of the Dead. Diya will also be a mythology-based fantasy adventure based on Indian folklore.
Steve O’Brien and Jared Mass of Reel FX Originals will serve as producers on the film. Good Karma Productions’ head of production, Jason Hiro Kim (Gook), will executive produce alongside Nayyar. Lucas Koppel will assume the role of executive in charge of production, on behalf of Reel FX Originals.
Mehra currently serves as showrunner, executive producer, and director of the Amazon romance series Made In Heaven, which is now in post-production for its second season. Her career began as an assistant director to both Ang Lee and Mira Nair, working on their films Life of Pi and The Namesake, respectively.
Reel FX Originals is a division of Reel FX Animation that has produced the Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson-starring comedy Free Birds. Its latest title, Rumble – an animated family comedy centered on “a reluctant monster athlete and his human wrestling coach” premiered on Paramount+ in December 2021.
Reel FX is also approaching the release of its 3D animated action comedy series, Super Giant Robot Brothers!, which is set to hit Netflix this summer.
