Vikas Swarup at Reykajvik Literary Festival

The Indian novelist Vikas Swarup, author of Six Suspects and Q & A, which was adapted into the multiple Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, appeared at the Nordic House in Iceland last week as part of the Reykjavik International Literary Festival 2011.

Swarup was interviewed by Icelandic journalist Petur Blondal in front of an intimate crowd in the main conference and meeting room at the Nordic House. In the interview, Swarup talked about Dharavi on the outskirts of Mumbai in India, which is the largest slum in the world, and how his work is influenced by the inspiring spirit of the people who live there. The Indian author also gave readings from both of his novels; Six Servants, and Q & A.

Full report here IceNews

Vikas Swarup honoured by S African University

Vikas Swarup, the author of the book that inspired the award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, has received an honorary doctorate from a top South African university.

The film was based on Swarup''s debut novel Q & A, which he wrote while he was Deputy High Commissioner for India in South Africa in 2005.

The book won the prestigious Boeke Award in South Africa and many others across the globe.

The University of South Africa awarded Swarup with an honorary doctorate yesterday.
Swarup became an overnight sensation after Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for a number of Oscar Awards, eventually winning A R Rahman India''s first Oscar for his musical score for the movie.
Swarup, who is now Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe, Japan, said he was just as overwhelmed by the doctorate award as he was when his book and the subsequent movie attained such heights.

Full report here MSN

20 questions for Vikas Swarup

"Slumdog Millionaire" author Vikas Swarup's latest, "Six Suspects," is out in paperback this month. Don't be surprised to see this one on the big screen, too (John Hodge of "Trainspotting" is writing the screenplay). Swarup confesses to PopMatters 20 Questions that he's sometimes stopped on the streets of the various countries he works in (first in the Indian Foreign Service, currently as a Consul General of India), because people tend to mistake him for James Bond. Which James Bond? Well, you decide.

1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?

"Inception," just because it was so complicated. Luckily no one saw me cry because that only happened on the third level of the dream-within-the-dream-within-the-dream.

2. The fictional character most like you?
Don't I look just like James Bond? Unfortunately no one recognizes me without the accessories.

3. The greatest album, ever?
Pink Floyd's "The Wall." It really became the anthem for a new generation.

4. "Star Trek" or "Star Wars"?
"Star Wars," for the simple reason that it had a better story line and much better special effects. Every time I see those corny visuals in the original "Star Trek" series I feel like saying, 'Beam me up, Scotty!'

Full interview here KansasCity.com

India to be guest country at Turin Book Fair

Literature fans may be rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the 23rd Turin International Book Fair, which kicks off in May and sees India take on the mantel of guest country.

The event takes place at Lingotto Fiere, an old Fiat plant transformed into an exhibition centre in 1985, with publishers attending to discover new talent or thrash out negotiations with current writers and the general public arriving to enjoy the huge array of books and cultural activities that go on.

While two sections are devoted entirely to trade professionals, there is plenty for travellers at accommodation in Turin to do and see.

Among the Indian writers who will be attending the show are Q&A author Vikas Swarup and other top names such as Anita Desai and Anita Nair.

Full report here

Vikas Swarup defends film theme

Indians should first own up to their slums and only then can change come, said Vikas Swarup, whose best-seller Q&A is a celebration of the human spirit and on the must-read list across the globe. The diplomat-turned-writer, who flew in from Japan, however complimented Indians for an indomitable will to get things done, no matter what the odds.

In conversation with author Kate Mosse at the Emirates International Literature Festival on Friday, Swarup said he does not see himself as an ‘Indian' writer, and that the theme of his book was universal, of love and of an underdog winning against all odds.

The idea of the book came when he was a political counsellor in London, he said. He could, however, have easily written the book when he was posted in Addis Ababa as there was a lot of spare time on his hands with not a single Indian delegation visiting the country during the three years of his tenure, he quipped.

Full report here Gulf News

Slumdog Millionaire worst film I have seen: Karnad

Padma Bhushan awardee and Jnanpith award winner Girish Karnad on Monday called Slumdog Millionaire the worst film he has ever seen, reports the Times of India.

Karnad, a towering, multi-faceted creative personality in the field of theatre, literature, acting and academics, was speaking at a lecture on 'Colonialism and Culture' at the D.D. Kosambi lecture series, organised by the government of Goa in Panaji.

"I have never seen anything worse than Slumdog Millionaire," Karnad said during a question-answer session which followed his lecture. He also said the movie had completely failed in India. India's hunger for Oscars showed "our own inferiority complex", he added.

"I don't know why we are obsessed with the Oscars or the Grammy (Grammy awards)," Karnad said, adding that the Indian film industry was perfectly healthy in every sense of the word.

The film was based on Vikas Swarup's novel, Q&A. Released in 2008, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire swept the 81st Academy Awards by winning eight Oscars. Out of the eight awards, three were won by Indian artistes - Resul Pookutty, A.R. Rehman and Gulzar.

BBC to film Swarup’s Six Suspects

The BBC is to make Oscar winner Vikas Swarup's next novel, Six Suspects into a film.
BBC and Starfield Productions of the UK are finalising a screenplay writer in the next stage of making Six Suspects into a film.
The BBC is already producing an audio-book of Swarup’s new novel, which is also being translated into 10 languages. UK's Radio 4 is making a radio play of Six Suspects in less than six months after the book’s publication.
Swarup's Q&A hit pay dirt at the Oscars by winning eight statuettes.
Six Suspects is a thriller with its genesis in Jessica Lal murder case in Delhi, in which a barmaid was shot dead in 1999 for refusing to serve drinks after hours to the son of a powerful politician.

Q&A sales likely to jump

Vikas Swarup, author of the book on which Slumdog Millionaire is based, is also likely to be rubbing his hands together in glee. For not only has the film won eight Oscars, it has ensured that the Swarup's book will on sale across the world.

Swarup's Q&A, the tale of how an 18-year-old boy from the slums manages to win one billion rupees on a television game show, was ticking along at a perfectly average rate before Boyle filmed it for the big screen as Slumdog Millionaire, selling some 35,000 copies since publication three years ago, according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan.

Vikas Swarup is currently the Indian deputy high commissioner in South Africa. Swarup's debut novel was a bestseller and has been translated into 40 languages.

Swarup is on record saying that while the film "differs from my novel in some significant ways, but manages to preserve the soul of my novel."

Bid for autographed Slumdog book online

The success of Slumdog Millionaire now sees an autographed version of the book auctioning on the net.
Online marketplace eBay is starting an auction for the book autographed by the film's star cast. Vikas Swarup's Q and A is open for bidding with a minimum starting bid of Rs 270. The auction, which began on February 16, is on till February 28. The amount collected from the bid proceeds will go to Plan India, an NGO working for child rights.
The bidding amount has witnessed a 10-fold jump in auction price and currently bidding is at Rs 2,600. According to eBay, 19 bidders have so far bid, while the auction site has been visited by over 280 people.