Neeraj Pandey to direct Hindi remake of 'Bad Genius'

Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey is all set to helm the Bollywood adaptation of the top-grossing Thai thriller "Bad Genius".

Inspired by real-life news of students cheating in the exam for entry into foreign universities, "Bad Genius" transplants the heist film structure to a school-exam setting, and features themes of class inequality as well as teen social issues.

"We keep looking for exciting stories and content all the time and 'Bad Genius' is an amazing film. We are looking forward to the re-imagination of the film as per Indian sensibilities and hope our audiences like it," Pandey said in a statement.

Reliance Entertainment and its partner Friday Filmworks' company Plan C Studios has joined hands with Azure Entertainment for the adaptation.

"'Bad Genius' is one of the hottest remake properties globally. We thank GDH 559 for entrusting us with this title for the Indian remake. It is a moment of pride for us to be partnering with Neeraj Pandey and Reliance Entertainment on the Hindi adaptation for this title," CEO of Azure Entertainment, Sunir Kheterpal said.

Released in 2017, "Bad Genius" earned over 100 million baht, becoming the highest-grossing Thai film of the year and broke several records in its worldwide collections too.

The film also won a record-breaking twelve categories at the 27th Suphannahong National Film Awards, as well as multiple awards on the international festival circuit.