As a filmmaker, I’ve always been drawn to stories that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction — and few figures embody that intersection better than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When the opportunity arose to tell his story through Elementary My Dear Holmes, I knew it wasn’t just another period film. It was a chance to explore the mind behind one of the world’s greatest fictional detectives — a man who, in many ways, lived like his own creation.
Set in 1906 London, the film captures Doyle during a deeply personal and morally complex chapter of his life. His wife is dying, and in her final wish, she asks him to marry another woman — a request that shatters and challenges him in equal measure. Amid this turmoil, Doyle becomes involved in two real-life cases that reveal his profound sense of justice: that of George Edalji, a man of Indian descent wrongfully convicted of a crime, and the case of Oscar Slater, another victim of a failed legal system. In these stories, I saw the real Sherlock Holmes — not the detective of fiction, but the human being driven by empathy and reason.
The film, announced at London’s historic Guildhall, is a collaboration between India and the UK — a cultural bridge that feels fitting for a story that connects the East and the West. As an Indian filmmaker, I found particular resonance in the Edalji case, which exposes the racial prejudice and injustice faced by a man of mixed heritage in Edwardian England. Through Doyle’s pursuit of truth, we glimpse how compassion transcends borders and eras.
Elementary My Dear Holmes is, at its heart, not just a biopic. It’s a dialogue between creator and creation, between imagination and reality. My hope is to portray Doyle not only as the father of Sherlock Holmes but as a man wrestling with conscience, love, and faith — a detective in his own right, searching for meaning in a world filled with both mystery and morality.