National Award-winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji is set to direct a major India-UK co-production feature film, titled ‘Elementary My Dear Holmes‘, focusing on the life and real-world detective work of Arthur Conan Doyle, the celebrated British writer and creator of the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes. The project was officially announced yesterday (Oct. 27) at a special event held at the historic Guildhall in London.
The film will centre on Doyle’s complex life, exploring the fascinating intersections between his reality and the fictional world he famously brought to life. Mukherji, renowned for acclaimed Bengali titles such as ‘Autograph,’ ‘Jaatishwar,’ and ‘Gumnaami,’ will delve into the author’s struggles in both his personal and public spheres, with a significant focus on his process of creating the legendary Sherlock Holmes.
The narrative is primarily set in London of 1906, a tumultuous time when Doyle was navigating profound personal woes. His wife was critically ill and wished for him to remarry after her passing. Simultaneously, Doyle was actively involved in real-life cases of injustice, most notably the case of George Edalji, a man of Indian descent who had been wrongfully sentenced. The story will showcase Doyle applying his trademark ‘Holmesian’ deductive reasoning to solve real-world mysteries.
This ambitious feature film is being produced under the official UK-India Co-Production Treaty, a strategic collaboration jointly administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) and India’s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). This treaty facilitates significant cross-border filmmaking projects.
The production is a joint effort between London-based Invisible Thread Media, led by producer Shahnaab Alam, and Mukherji’s India-based banner, Matchcut Productions. Critically, the Conan Doyle Estate has also officially joined the project as an associate producer, lending authentic backing and official endorsement to the story.
Mukherji shared his personal connection to the character, noting, “I first met Sherlock Holmes as a boy — not in Baker Street, but in the quiet between pages… ‘Elementary, My Dear Holmes’ imagines Doyle stepping into his own fiction — a man haunted by the clarity he created, forced to apply it to a world far messier than the one on paper.”
- Srijit Mukherji will direct ‘Elementary My Dear Holmes‘, an India-UK co-production feature film based on the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
- The plot is set in 1906 London, focusing on Doyle’s personal struggles (including his dying wife) and his real-life involvement in cases of injustice, such as that of the wrongfully sentenced George Edalji.
- The film is produced under the UK-India Co-Production Treaty by Shahnaab Alam’s Invisible Thread Media (UK) and Mukherji’s Matchcut Productions (India).
- The project has secured crucial official backing, with the Conan Doyle Estate joining as an associate producer.