FlyDubai Hijacking Incident Set for Development as an Inspirational Movie by Dori Media Group and India’s Sphereorigin — SkimNews
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- Dori Media Group and Mumbai-based Sphereorigin are co-producing a narrative film about the Sept. 30 FlyDubai hijacking, with the development deal struck Oct. 11–14 at the Mipcom market in Cannes and brokered by Subhadarshi Tripathy.
- Capt. Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was stabbed by his co-pilot mid-flight, is the hero of the project after he opened the locked cockpit door to let passengers hear the commotion and overpower the assailant — an account he shared in a video call with Indian PM Narendra Modi.
- The co-pilot is alleged to have intended to crash the FlyDubai flight into Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, plunging roughly 14,000 feet over about 30 seconds before being subdued; he is now under arrest and facing prosecution by UAE authorities.
- Two off-duty pilots among the Israeli passengers on the flight landed the plane in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — a landing Variety notes is significant because the kingdom does not normally allow Israel-affiliated aircraft to touch down on its soil.
- Sphereorigin managing director Sunjoy Waddhwa said Indian streaming platforms and broadcasters unsolicitedly approached his company about telling the story, prompting the film development; both companies are still seeking a writer and director with an accelerated release targeted for next year.
Why it matters: Sphereorigin's Sunjoy Waddhwa received unsolicited inquiries from Indian streaming platforms after Machchhar became a national hero in both India and Israel. The three-day deal at Mipcom (Oct. 11–14) means both companies are racing to attach a writer and director, with an accelerated release targeted for next year.
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