Riz Ahmed to Star in Bassam Tariq's Debut Feature MUGHAL MOWGLI

Emmy®-winning actor and rapper Riz Ahmed is set to play the lead in feature film drama MUGHAL MOWGLI, a story which Ahmed co-wrote and will produce. This marks director Bassam Tariq's ambitious feature film debut.

A spiritual drama about a British Pakistani rapper who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an epigenetic illness that threatens to derail his big break.

MUGHAL MOWGLI is co-written by Tariq & Ahmed and will be produced by Pulse Films' Thomas Benski and Bennett McGhee, Left Handed Films' Riz Ahmed, and Michael Peay.

BBC Films, Cinereach, SFFILM Invest, Vice Studios and RYOT Films have boarded the project as financiers. Dimitra Tsingou for Pulse Films, Eva Yates for BBC Films, Suroosh Alvi for Vice Studios will Executive Produce alongside Cinereach. Pulse Films will produce in association with Silvertown Films and Left Handed Films.

"I'm excited to be finally be working on a feature with my friends at Pulse Films and my co-conspirator Bassam Tariq," said Riz Ahmed. "We are setting out to do something different, and do it in a bold way."

Thomas Benski, CEO of Pulse Films commented: Thomas Benski, CEO of Pulse Films commented: "Collaborating with Bassam and Riz on MUGHAL MOWGLI goes to the heart of our studio's ethos: to tell human stories that capture moments of culture. Bassam and Riz are among the most exciting creators around, and both embody true talent. Their stories will provide audiences with work that not only stands out, but pushes the boundaries of cinema and storytelling. I am equally thrilled to be producing this project with Riz and excited to watch his talents as a producer, songwriter and performer take centre stage. We are also delighted to align with our partners BBC Films, Cinereach, SFFILM Invest, Vice Studios and RYOT Films, whose support is a real testament of Bassam and Riz's and vision"

Eva Yates of BBC Films comments: "Bassam's documentary work marks him out as a filmmaker of great vision and compassion and this brilliant collaboration with Riz promises a unique debut feature that we are very proud to be part of."

Riz Ahmed is an award-winning actor, writer, creator, producer, musician, director and activist. He became one of Hollywood's most sought after artists following the explosive success of HBO's THE NIGHT OF, written and created by the legendary Steven Zaillan for which he won an Emmy Award and was Golden Globe-nominated. He went on to star in successful feature films including Disney's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers and most-recently Sony/Marvel's Venom. He first garnered industry attention in festival favourites Four Lions and Nightcrawler.

As Riz MC, Ahmed came up 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. His provocative solo release Post 9/11 Blues was banned before a viral groundswell forced it into radio, and Englistan was critically acclaimed for its exploration of identity. The Swet Shop Boys album, Cashmere, landed the group prestigious gigs including Coachella and Glastonbury. In a nod to their cultural impact, participants at the Los Angeles International Airport protest against Trump's immigration ban were heard chanting lyrics from "T5."

As a vocal advocate for inclusion, Ahmed's award-winning piece in the Nikesh Shukla-edited collection of essays The Good Immigrant, has been dubbed "essential reading". In Spring 2017, he was a prestigious guest-speaker at the British Parliament's House of Commons where he spoke about diversity and representation. That same year, he graced the cover of TIME's 100 Most Influential People.

Ahmed is repped by Gordon & French in the UK, CAA and Gang, Tyre, Ramer Brown & Passman.

Bassam is a writer and independent filmmaker whose non-fiction film GHOSTS OF SUGAR LAND won the non-fiction short film award at Sundance 2019 and which acquired by Netflix. His first feature, THESE BIRDS WALK, premiered at SXSW and is distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories. THESE BIRDS WALK was named by IndieWire, The Playlist and Sights + Sound Magazine as one of the best movies of 2013. It was recently named one of the 50 best foreign films of the 21st century by the New Yorker. His five year long transmedia documentaries, 30 Days/Ramadan and 30 Mosques, are part of the permanent collection at MIT's Open Documentary Lab. His writings have appeared in TIME, the New Yorker, Huffington Post, CBC, and CNN. In 2015, he was a fellow of Sundance's Art of Non-Fiction Residency and participated in the 2017 Sundance Screenwriters' Lab for his new film. He is a TED Fellow and was named Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film."

Photo Credit: Sam Jones