Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair will start shooting for the screen adaptation of the Vikram Seth classic “A Suitable Boy” in Lucknow on Saturday.

The film features Tabu, Ishaan Khatter and newcomer Tanya Maniktala. Tanya will play the central role of Lata, in the project adapted by Andrew Davies.

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The creative forces behind the show – Nair, Seth, and Davies – got together in Mumbai recently to start rehearsals and read through scripts alongside the cast.

“The talent in the room sizzled – Vikram Seth, author of the masterpiece that I have loved since the day it was written, Andrew Davies, the great craftsman of distillation of epic stories into screenplays, cutting-edge actors, first-timers and legends from across the subcontinent, all coming together to make a human, funny, political, sexy chronicle of India,” Nair said.

“A Suitable Boy,” tells the story of spirited university student Lata in 1951 at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election.

It is a tale charting the fortunes of four large families and exploring India and its rich and varied culture at a crucial point in its history.

The six-part BBC One drama will be shot on locations across India. Produced by Lookout Point, it is slated to launch next year.