Riz Ahmed is producing and starring in the music drama “Mughal Mowgli,” which he has co-written with director Bassam Tariq.
The spiritual drama follows a British Pakistani rapper who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that threatens to derail his big break.
Ahmed is producing through his Left Handed Films with Pulse Films’ Thomas Benski and Bennett McGhee, along with Michael Peay. BBC Films, Cinereach, SFFILM Invest, Vice Studios, and RYOT Films have boarded the project as financiers.
The executive producers are Dimitra Tsingou for Pulse Films, Eva Yates for BBC Films, and Suroosh Alvi for Vice Studios. Pulse Films will produce in association with Silvertown Films and Left Handed Films.
Ahmed won an Emmy for his role in HBO’s “The Night Of” and went on to star in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Jacques Audiard’s “The Sisters Brothers,” and Sony’s “Venom.” As Riz MC, Ahmed emerged in the London music scene as a rap battle champion, going on to write and perform both as a solo artist and with his band, Swet Shop Boys.
Tariq’s “Ghosts of Sugar Land” won the non-fiction short film award at Sundance and was acquired by Netflix. His first feature, “These Birds Walk,” premiered at SXSW and is distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Ahmed is repped by Gordon & French in the U.K., CAA, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.