SINGAPORE – Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen has been named director of the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Secret Daughter.

According to entertainment news portal Deadline, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and American actress Sienna Miller are said to be starring in the film.

The 2010 novel by Canadian writer Shilpi Somaya Gowda tells the story of Asha, a girl born to a poor mother and given to a Mumbai orphanage. Asha was adopted by a couple from California. As an adult, his life will bring together two families, one Indian and one American, in a story that uncovers the complexities of cross-cultural adoption.

Amazon Studios is said to be behind negotiations for a film adaptation.

When contacted by The Straits Times, Chen, who is based in London, declined to comment.

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Chen, 37, has made two feature films, the dramas Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019). Ilo Ilo, which tells the story of a Singaporean family and their domestic helper caught in the economic downturn in the late 1990s, won the Camera d’Or, awarded for best first feature film by a filmmaker, at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Wet Season earned six nominations, including for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, at the Golden Horse Awards in 2019. Actress Yeo Yann Yann, who played a teacher at a crossroads in her life, was named Best Leading Actress that year.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission is required for reproduction.