Freida Pinto joins Idris Elba in Showtime's 'Guerilla' cast

LOS ANGELES, June 28 (UPI) -- Slum Dog Millionaire's Freida Pinto has joined the cast of Showtime-Sky's miniseries Guerilla.

Pinto joins Idris Elba in the program, which will be written, directed and executive produced by 12 Years a Slave's Oscar-winning John Ridley, Variety reported.

The six-part drama involves Jas and Marcus, a couple whose "passion propels them into making the leap from political activism to radical militancy," Sky announced in a press release.

Guerilla is a love story set during one of the United Kingdom's most politically explosive periods, Deadline reported.

Other films Pinto has to her credit include Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups. In this series, Pinto plays Jas; her love interest, Marcus, has not yet been cast.

Elba will co-star in Guerilla and also will serve as Green Door Pictures' executive producer.

In the story line, Jas and Marcus' "relationship and values are tested when they liberate a political prisoner and form a radical underground cell in 1970s London," Sky said in its press release. "Their ultimate target becomes the Black Power Desk, a true-life, secretive counter-intelligence unit within Special Branch dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism."

"At its heart," the release went on to say, "Guerrilla' is about a relationship under pressure, and the reality that for any couple there comes a point when the choices they make have real and lasting consequences."

Other executive producers are the project are Patrick Spence and Katie Swinden for Fifty Fathoms, Michael McDonald for Stearns Castle, Tracy Underwood for ABC Signature.

Guerilla is set to begin production in London in late summer.