Since almost 10 years, Korean producer Hyunwoo Thomas Kim of Kross Pictures has quietly set up base in Mumbai and has been making some interesting, out-of-the-box Indian films like *Te3n* (2016), *Jaane Jaan* (2023), *Blind* (2023), *Saakini Daakini* (2022), and more.
An article in *Mid-Day* by Mayank Shekhar documented his journey in India and much more.
### How It All Began
Hyunwoo Thomas Kim explained how he decided to set up an office in India. He revealed that in 2014, he regularly received emails from a company named ‘Balaji’ and initially assumed that it was spam! One day, when he finally opened the mail, he realized that the prominent production house, Balaji Motion Pictures, had been contacting him to acquire the rights for the Hindi remake of *The Devotion of Suspect X*.
Curious, Hyunwoo wanted to know who would direct the remake. He was informed that Sujoy Ghosh had been signed. Having seen Sujoy’s *Kahaani* (2012) and being deeply impressed, Hyunwoo flew down to Mumbai to meet Sujoy and his team. After the meeting, he granted them the remake rights.
### Falling in Love with Mumbai
In the *Mid-Day* interview, Hyunwoo shared his amazement at Mumbai’s environment, particularly how everyone spoke English, which made doing business easier. He began frequenting India more often and remarked,
> “I figured, India has a huge market, great directors, actors. What it lacks is writers of the calibre in Korea. There was a gap to fill. Initially, people thought I was crazy to spend so much time/money [in Mumbai]. Or that I had a girlfriend in India. I don’t!”
### Delayed Remake and Legal Battles
*The Devotion of Suspect X* was eventually remade as *Jaane Jaan* in 2023. When asked why the remake didn’t happen earlier, Hyunwoo explained that *Drishyam* (2013) had already been released and was inspired by the same story.
Hyunwoo also confessed wanting to sue the makers of *Drishyam*, but did not pursue legal action as “Ekta Kapoor backed off”. On the other hand, he won a legal battle concerning the Kannada hit *Pushpaka Vimana* (2017), which was a remake of Lee Hwan-kyung’s *Miracle in Cell No. 7* (2013), whose rights he holds.
The Bombay High Court passed an order restraining the filmmakers of *Pushpaka Vimana* from awarding any rights related to satellite or telecast.
### Exciting New Projects
Speaking about his forthcoming films, Hyunwoo revealed that he has approached Akshay Kumar for the remake of a Korean film. He stated,
> “Just yesterday, I texted Akshay Kumar, who’s in London, asking him to watch a particular film that everyone in the industry knows about. Sujoy [Ghosh] has already worked on the draft. If Akshay agrees, we have a project.”
Hyunwoo also expressed how warmly he has been received by the Hindi film industry.
> “I’ve met with everyone, including Shah Rukh Khan, who first messaged me about a script.”
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