Shekhar Kapur to direct ‘Foreign Bodies’, a film on vaccine pioneer Waldemar Haffkine

Shekhar Kapur has loads of interesting projects in his kitty. One of them is a historical biopic about vaccine pioneer and bacteriologist Waldemar Haffkine. Haffkine, little known to yothe general public, was the Ukrainian-Jewish scientist whose work on cholera and plague vaccines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries helped save millions of lives.

The British Raj appointed Haffkine as their State Bacteriologist in India, but falsely accused him of killing nineteen people from tetanus in what became known as “the Second Dreyfus Affair,” as per Deadline. Set across Odesa, Paris, London, Mumbai and Kolkata, the film “will follow Haffkine, a brilliant outsider, as he is shaped by persecution, exile and personal loss, but who repeatedly risks his own body and reputation in pursuit of scientific truth.”

The project is being produced by Helen Hadfield (Snapper Films), Alexandra Stone (Streetcar Productions), Egor Olesov (United Heroes), and J.D. Zacharias (Curiosity Rights). Casting discussions are underway with producers currently on the ground at the Cannes market to discuss the film with potential partners.

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Meanwhile, Shekhar Kapur is busy making the much-anticipated sequel to Masoom. The 1983 film Masoom was a poignant Hindi drama about a family’s struggle to accept an illegitimate son. Starring Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, it featured soulful music by R D Burman and lyrics by Gulzar.

The film was celebrated for its sensitive storytelling and remarkable performances by child actors Jugal Hansraj and Urmila Matondkar.The film swept the 1984 Filmfare Awards, winning Best Film (Critics), Best Actor (Naseeruddin Shah), and Best Music Director (R D Burman). Its iconic soundtrack includes the timeless ghazal ‘Tujhse Naraz Nahin Zindagi’, the playful children’s classic ‘Lakdi Ki Kaathi’, and the soulful ‘Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani’.