Award-winning screenwriter Groove has been selected to pen “Street Dreams,” a biographical film based on the inspiring life of Vicky Roy, who transformed from a street child into an internationally recognized photographer.

Groove, known for her work on films such as Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay,” the Venice best screenplay winner “Mississippi Masala,” “The Namesake,” Netflix’s “Yeh Ballet,” and Prime Video’s “Waack Girls,” will write the script for Nirvana Films founder Mauktik Kulkarni, who is producing the project. Indian-american filmmaker Ben Rekhi (“The Reunited States”) is serving as a consulting producer.

Roy’s early life was marked by poverty in rural East India, leading him to theft and eventually forcing him to leave his village. He found himself among Delhi’s street children, collecting rags on train platforms to survive, until the Salaam Baalak Trust, a rehabilitation institution created after the success of the Oscar-nominated “Salaam Bombay,” intervened and changed his life. This intervention propelled him to photograph the 9/11 Memorial construction and earn an MIT Media Labs fellowship. Currently, he leads photojournalism initiatives for India’s nationwide Everyone Is Good at Something program, wich empowers individuals with disabilities.

Sooni Taraporevala Reflects on Full-Circle Moment

“This is truly a full-circle moment for me…to have the prospect to write a film about his life is quite surreal and wonderful.”

“This is truly a full-circle moment for me. ‘Salaam Bombay’ was made in 1987, the year Vicky roy was born. I was the writer and still photographer on the film, which launched my careers in both fields. I had no idea then that the film would be so accomplished and would birth Salaam Baalak Trust that would help so many street children like Vicky find purpose and meaning in life,” said taraporevala. “As a photographer myself I have followed Vicky’s incredible journey and seen his work as 2009. Now, after the film I initially wrote might have changed his life, to have the opportunity to write a film about his life is quite surreal and wonderful.”

Producer Kulkarni,who transitioned from neuroscience to filmmaking,brings experience from his previous work on the travel documentary “Riding on a Sunbeam” and has an active Los Angeles-based growth slate.

“India is known as a land of myths and fantasies.When I first heard about Vicky’s astonishing story, I was inclined to believe that it was a bit of both. It has been inspiring to get to know him since then and I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring his story to the screen. Given Sooni’s mastery at crafting India-centric narratives for global audiences and her brilliant work as a photographer, she is the ideal writer to bring this script to life,” Kulkarni stated.

The Salaam Baalak Trust’s founder Sanjoy Roy is supporting the film’s development, seeing it as an extension of the organization’s three-decade mission to secure basic rights for India’s street children. This follows another success story from the Trust’s network – last year’s Oscar-nominated short “anuja” featured one of their alumni in a starring role.

“We began in 1988 with the singular mission of ensuring street children in India have access to their basic rights.With the help of our patrons, we are glad that we have gone beyond that mission and spawned thousands of success stories. And Vicky is no exception to it,” said Sanjoy Roy. “Coming on the heels of last year’s Oscar-nominated short film ‘anuja,’ in which another stellar fellow of our Trust played a leading role, I am hoping ‘Street dreams’ inspires audiences to believe that it is not where you come from, but rather what you do with your life that matters.”