Fox Star Studios acquires remake rights of `Lucia`

Panaji: Fox Star Studios India has bought the rights to the Hindi remake of director Pawan Kumar`s Kannada-language hit `Lucia`. Kumar is also on board to direct the film. The announcement was made at the NFDC Film Bazaar held on the sidelines of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here. `Lucia` is a psychological thriller which tells the story of a theater usher, who has a life changing experience and has lucid dreams of being a movie star. "When I wrote it, it was very rooted to Karnataka. Now, I have to look at it from a national point of view and maybe global as well because the studio will be giving it an international release," Kumar said after the announcement. Lucia premiered at the London Indian Film Festival on July 20, 2013 along with Hindi movies like `Monsoon Shootout` and `Bombay Talkies`. It won the Best Film Audience Choice award at the festival. The Hindi remake will be a significantly bigger budget film than the original and Fox and Kumar are scouting for a bankable Bollywood star. Production of the Hindi version of `Lucia` will start as soon as possible depending on cast availability. The Tamil and Telugu language rights of the film are already sold to producer CV Kumar`s Thirukumaran Entertainment.