“Mumbai Crime” Podcast from John Scott Dryden and Ayeesha Menon of Goldhawk Productions joins Radiotopia from PRX, Releasing Immersive Audio Fiction Series On-Demand on An Ongoing Basis
Beginning August 22, “Mumbai Crime” will feature the 10-part series “Q&A,” an adaptation of the best-selling novel that inspired the film “Slumdog Millionaire.” Goldhawk Productions and Radiotopia previously released “Passenger List,” the highly acclaimed mystery thriller
Radiotopia from PRX, an award-winning podcast network home to extraordinary independent creators, today welcomes the audio fiction podcast “Mumbai Crime.”
Created by John Scott Dryden and Ayeesha Menon of Goldhawk Productions, “Mumbai Crime” will feature audio fiction series on an ongoing basis — including engrossing thrillers, crime stories, and arresting mysteries — all recorded immersively on the streets of Mumbai, India.
Radiotopia and Goldhawk Productions previously partnered on the release of “Passenger List,” the highly acclaimed mystery thriller podcast starring Kelly Marie Tran honored by the ARIAS, the Webby Awards, The Ambies, and the British Podcast Awards. Now expanding their partnership, “Mumbai Crime” is available free across all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Stitcher, and Pocket Casts.
As part of Radiotopia, “Mumbai Crime” will feature the 10-part series “Q&A” beginning August 22, with new episodes released weekly on Mondays.
An audio trailer is available now:
On August 19, “Q&A” will be spotlit by “Tribeca Audio Premieres,” the iconic Tribeca Festival’s new podcast championing and curating the work of today’s greatest audio artists. In the “Q&A” fiction series, Thomas — played by Anand Tiwari (“Kites”) — wins the popular Indian game show “Who Will Win A Billion?”, scooping the billion-rupee prize on live television. But not everyone is convinced he did it on his own. The series also features popular Bollywood actors Rajit Kapur and Radhika Apte, among others. An adaptation of the best-seller of the same title by Vikas Swarup, the novel “Q&A”, inspired the Academy Award-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire.”
“Q&A” was previously released by Goldhawk Productions as a radio drama for BBC Radio 4 in the U.K., winning a Sony Radio Academy Award, and is now being re-released on-demand anew, as part of Radiotopia. The series also features the new addition of award-winning co-creator Ayeesha Menon and leading Indian theater director Nadir Khan as presenters. Serving as a guide to listeners, Menon and Khan will introduce “Q&A” while providing context on both the narrative and production. Menon and Khan will also serve as presenters on future “Mumbai Crime” series.
“Western depictions of India often focus on inequalities, but we wanted to tell fuller stories truer to our experiences in the country. ‘Mumbai Crime’ features stories driven by the IT generation fighting for a better future, ” said “Mumbai Crime’ creators Ayeesha Menon and John Scott Dryden. “We’re also motivated by exploring the expansive possibilities of audio fiction. While the stories of ‘Mumbai Crime’ are rooted in a specific place, we hope to bring Mumbai alive for listeners everywhere. We believe a great story will always find an audience.”
Future “Mumbai Crime” productions will include original series such as the police thriller “Undercover Mumbai” — originally heard on BBC Radio 4 — and memory thriller “Scenes from a Crime,” as well as audio dramatizations of beloved works, including “A Fine Balance” by Rohinton Mistry and “The Seventh Test,” inspired by Vikas Swarup’s “The Accidental Apprentice.” “Mumbai Crime” will also release as a podcast a re-imagining of the coming-of-age fable, “The Jungle Book,” which won a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2021.
“John, Ayeesha, and the team at Goldhawk Productions are masters of audio fiction,” said Audrey Mardavich, Senior Director of Content at Radiotopia from PRX. “We were thrilled to bring audiences ‘Passenger List’ together, which saw deep listener engagement and broke new creative ground. We’re excited now for wider audiences to hear the exhilarating stories of ‘Mumbai Crime,’ recorded in Goldhawk’s trademark mix of profound immersive, realistic, and gripping stylings.”
For more about Radiotopia, visit Radiotopia.fm.
About John Scott Dryden, co-creator of “Mumbai Crime”
John Scott Dryden is a writer, director and executive producer. He created the fiction podcast “Passenger List,” a mystery thriller about a plane that disappears mid-flight between London and New York, and the historical fantasy series “Tumanbay” which has run for four series. He co-created and directed the fiction podcasts “LifeAfter”, “The Cipher” and, soon to be released, “Restart”. He has written and directed many audio drama series for the BBC including the thrillers “Severed Threads”, “A Kidnapping”, “Pandemic,” and “The Reluctant Spy”. He has also dramatized and directed for BBC Radio 4 a Sony Award-winning dramatization of Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House,” Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and Vikram Seth’s “A Suitable Boy.”
About Ayeesha Menon, co-creator and presenter of “Mumbai Crime”
Ayeesha Menon is an award winning writer and creator for stage, film and radio. Her modern-day adaptation of “A Tale of Two Cities” won Best Adaptation and her “Midnight’s Children” won the Outstanding Achievement award at the BBC Audio Drama Awards. She wrote the script for the India feature film “The White Elephant” and her play “Pereira’s Bakery at 76 Chapel Road” opened at Privthi Theater, Mumbai and also had a reading at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Ayeesha is currently working on a play for the National Theatre.
About Nadir Khan, presenter of “Mumbai Crime”
Nadir Khan is a director, actor and producer and has produced numerous award-winning productions for Goldhawk Productions including “Tumanbay.” He is also a leading Indian theater director working mostly in Mumbai. His most recent directorial credits include Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men” and Rahul DaCunha / Bugs Bhargava Krishna’s “Sing India Sing,” Carl Miller’s “Anand Express,” Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Jurors,” and Yasmina Reza’s “The God of Carnage.”
About Radiotopia from PRX
Created in 2014, Radiotopia from PRX is today one of the most creative and successful podcast networks. Radiotopia has received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the Tribeca Festival, and the Pulitzer Prizes. Comprised of acclaimed titles from leading indie producers, Radiotopia has also been named one of the most innovative companies in media by “Fast Company” and in 2019 was named the network of the year in the inaugural “Adweek” podcast awards. Visit Radiotopia.fm for more.
