Six Indian actors will play the lead roles in the adaptation of Vikas Swarup’s second novel, Six Suspects. The movie is being produced by the British company, Starfield Productions, which has earlier made Anita And Me (2002) and Rogue Trader (1999). The novel is being adapted by John Hodge, famed for the screenplays of Trainspotting and The Beach, directed by Danny Boyle. Owner of Starfield Productions Paul Raphael says there is no certainty about Boyle directing this movie, but he would be perfect.
“John is about to deliver the first official draft, and then we will zero in on the director,” says Raphael. “We have not contacted Danny Boyle yet. I would like to think he would do it, since he has a relationship with John and with India. I may take his opinion on the script.” They will consider Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, who starred in Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
“The lead roles, apart from one American, are all Indian, although I can’t say whether we will end up with only Indians or some British Indians. I would be open to the idea of Bollywood actors, although it’s not a Bollywood film. Definitely we would be looking at someone like Anil Kapoor who played a significant role in Slumdog...,” he says.
Raphael came to India in March for the first time, to meet financiers and line producers for the project, and met Kapoor on a set. The film will be shot in Delhi and Mumbai in 2011. While he intends to employ an Indian composer, he does not know how busy A R Rahman is. “There are many fabulous composers in India,” he points out.
{{/usCountry}}Raphael came to India in March for the first time, to meet financiers and line producers for the project, and met Kapoor on a set. The film will be shot in Delhi and Mumbai in 2011. While he intends to employ an Indian composer, he does not know how busy A R Rahman is. “There are many fabulous composers in India,” he points out.
{{/usCountry}}He adds, “We have to deliver a film that will satisfy the Slumdog audience. The danger is that if you replicate something completely, it is not as good the second time.”
Earlier, Raphael had tried to buy the rights for Q & A and failed. He, however, kept in touch with Swarup’s agent for the next novel and the minute he got the unpublished manuscript, and had read the first 100 pages, he bid for the movie rights.
Says Swarup, “I suppose Danny may be given the right of first refusal. But personally, I think there is zero chance of him working on Six Suspects.”
Six suspects
Six Suspects is Vikas Swarups’ second novel. It was published in 2008. His first novel Q & A was adapted into the screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire.
Six Suspects is work of fiction about a spoilt rich playboy who is murdered at a Delhi farmhouse party when celebrating his acquittal for shooting a bartender.
The police line up six suspects, at a party, each with a strong motive to have pulled the trigger.