Milind Soman's space saga 'Captain Vyom' to return in modern-day avatar

India's original space/sci-fi superhero 'Captain Vyom - The Sky Warrior' is coming back after over 20 years in a new, sleek and modern-day avatar.

Brewing Thoughts Private Limited (BTPL), which is producing the 'Shaktimaan' trilogy with Sony Pictures International Productions, has acquired the adaptation/remake rights from Cosmos Maya. BTPL's licensed rights include a five-part feature film franchise, as well as an equal number of web series.

Veteran filmmaker Ketan Mehta, who created the iconic show starring Milind Soman in the lead role, says, "For me, Captain Vyom is an Indian-origin superhero for a global audience. And it's time to reinvent when India is dreaming of its space in the new century. This franchise, with an intergalactic space adventure at its heart, can also be a perfect platform to showcase the best of VFX and CGI talent of our country."

BTPL plans to develop Captain Vyom, a space/sci-fi superhero thriller, along the lines of Hollywood sci-fi space dramas such as 'Star Trek,' 'Star Wars' and 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' series. The makers have already received three to four lucrative offers from top studios and OTT platforms for a co-production deal vis-a-vis the superhero franchise.

However, the cast for the Captain Vyom adaptation has not been finalised yet, with the makers on the lookout for the best possible actors for their film.

"Not just that, a couple of top A-list young stars have also shown keen interest in playing the lead part. Besides, conversations are on with top-rated filmmakers, known for their big-budget films as well as sensitive storytelling. Makers, though, are still in a wait-and-watch mode," says a source, close to BTPL.

"It's a big challenge and a huge responsibility to attempt something like this, especially in India but we are keeping our fingers crossed. Also, it feels great that we are reliving our childhood days - of the '90s - through our planned adaptations of hit Doordarshan shows such as Shaktimaan and Captain Vyom etc.," says film journalist-turned-producer Prashant Singh, director and co-founder of BTPL.

Initially, BTPL had planned to start work on the said franchise in 2020 itself but the COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport and delayed their plans. Now though, the production house is set to start off with the first film, of the series, next year.

"With the reloaded Captain Vyom, we intend to amp up an exciting space/sci-fi genre in India. Just the idea of having concepts like aliens, spaceships, time travel and space exploration merged with beautiful storytelling and backed by state-of-the-art VFX is very exciting," says Madhurya Vinay, the co-founder of BTPL.