Mindy Kaling to Co-produce Film Based on Canadian Author Uzma Jalaluddin’s Novel ‘Hana Khan Carries On’
- The story puts a modern Muslim spin on Ernst Lubitsch's classic “The Shop Around the Corner,” which was later updated with Nora Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail.”
Mindy Kaling’s production company is teaming up with Amazon Studios to develop a film based on Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin’s novel “Hana Khan Carries On.” Variety says “the story puts a modern Muslim spin on a premise first made famous by the Ernst Lubitsch classic ‘The Shop Around the Corner,’ which was later updated with Nora Ephron’s ‘You’ve Got Mail.’
Jalaluddin’s novel follows two competing Halal shops. Hana’s family owns a restaurant called Three Sisters in the Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto, and its business is threatened when a more commercial, fusion-based eatery moves in down the street. The catch is that Hana and the owner of the other restaurant, Aydin, have an instant romantic connection.
Sahar Jahani will write the script, while Kaling and Jessica Kumai Scott will produce via Kaling International. The adaptation is still in the early stages, and no cast or release date has been attached to the project yet.
Jahani most recently wrote on “13 Reasons Why,” “The Bold Type” and the first season of “Ramy.” She was also a fellow of the 25th Annual Project Involve Program for Film Independent and is currently developing an original half-hour series with HBO Max, which will be produced by A24 and Ramy Youssef’s Cairo Cowboy.
Jalaluddin writes “Samosas and Maple Syrup,” a culture and parenting column for the Toronto Star. Her debut novel, “Ayesha at Last,” is a revamped “Pride and Prejudice” set in a close-knit Toronto Muslim community. Per the Variety report, “an adaption is in development at Sony with Pascal Pictures, with Jahani on board to adapt.”
Kaling co-created and executive produced the Netflix series “Never Have I Ever,” which returned for the second season on July 15. The series centers on the complicated life of Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl. She’s an overachieving high school sophomore with a short fuse that gets her into difficult situations. The new season will see Devi continuing to deal with the everyday pressures of high school and drama at home, while also navigating new romantic relationships. Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Jaren Lewison, Darren Barnet, Lee Rodriguez, and Ramona Young also star.
She is currently in production on the first season of her HBO Max/Warner Bros. Television comedy “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and she is also executive producing and voicing the title character in Warner Bros. Animation’s upcoming HBO Max adult animated comedy “Velma.”
Kaling previously created and starred in “The Mindy Project” and also served as a writer, executive producer, and star of “The Office,” earning six Emmy nominations for her work. In 2019, Kaling executive produced, wrote, and starred in the feature film “Late Night.” She is also the author of the New York Times–bestselling books “Why Not Me?” and “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns).”