Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sienna Miller to star in film adaptation of 'Secret Daughter'

The 2010 bestseller by Shilpi Somaya Gowda tells a cross-cultural story of two mothers, one in India and the other in the US

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sienna Miller are both credited as producers in the coming film 'Secret Daughter'. AP; AFP

Following the success of 2021's The White Tiger, which was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is once again eyeing critical acclaim with the adaptation of another bestseller — the cross-cultural drama Secret Daughter.

Chopra Jonas will star alongside British-American actress Sienna Miller in the movie, to be directed by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen, according to entertainment website Deadline. Chen's 2013 drama Ilo Ilo won the Best Feature Film at Cannes that year. This new work will be financed by Amazon Prime Video, according to Deadline, with Chopra Jonas and Miller also credited as producers.

Written by Canadian author Shilpi Somaya Gowda, the 2010 book tells the story of a poor Indian mother who is forced to give up her daughter for adoption to an American woman. When she grows up and seeks out more information about her past, the daughter begins to form a link between the the lives of those two women, in turn tackling themes of motherhood, loss and love over the course of two decades.

The film is an adaptation of Canadian author Shilpi Somaya Gowda's 2010 novel. Photo: HarperCollins

Chopra Jonas's last project as producer, The White Tiger, was an adaptation of Aravind Adiga's bestselling novel of the same name. The critically acclaimed film, which was released by Netflix, received a number of nominations, including for best actor at the Baftas last year for Adarsh Gourav.

On the acting front, Chopra Jonas, who also starred in The White Tiger, was last seen in The Matrix: Resurrections. She is set to star in Citadel, a spy thriller series directed by the Russo brothers, along with Bodyguard actor Richard Madden. The show is scheduled to begin streaming in April.

Miller, meanwhile, was last seen alongside Russell Crowe in the 2019 Showtime miniseries The Loudest Voice, based on the life of defamed Fox News executive Roger Ailes. Crowe played Ailes in the show while Miller was his wife Beth Tilson Ailes.

Secret Daughter, Gowda's debut novel, was published in 2010 to wide acclaim. Inspired by her time spent volunteering at an orphanage in India, the book has been translated into more than 30 languages. Gowda followed up with The Golden Son in 2015, another cross-cultural tale, which also became an international bestseller. Her third book, The Shape of Family, was released in 2019.