Before the Slumdog became a famous Millionare bagging 8 Oscars,it was adapted from a book called "Q and A" by Vikas Swarup.Danny Boyle and his crew were very successful in changing the original "Q and A" to fit into a movie that can fetch many awards and fame.Readers are aware that the film also won the Oscar award in the best adapted screenplay category.Though the film was centered around a youth from the slums,who for his love attends a TV Quiz show and surprisingly wins the show,the thing that recieved more attention was the portrayal of the slums of Indian city, Mumbai.
In an interview last december with Seattle Weekly,Danny Boyle said that "Q and A" was perhaps less important than another book about Mumbai.
"I’d never been [to Mumbai], and then I read the script.It’s a great narrative, but also a dazzling picture of the city. Then I read Maximum City.This other book, Maximum City, became my Bible, really.I took it with me everywhere. I felt part of the time we were adapting that"
Maximum city:Bombay Lost and Found was written by Suketu Mehta,released in 2004.It was chosen as the Book of the year 2004 by the Economist.Its also one of the finalists of the Pulitzer Prize 2005 and won the Kiriyama prize 2005.The book begins with Suketu Mehta returning to Mumbai after he left it as Bombay in 1977.He portrays the changes that his city offered him and makes a complete round about on the situation in mumbai,its people and the politics.
Danny Boyle has bought the film rights of this book from Suketu Mehta and it is going to be a film soon.The poor slums of Mumbai are going to be screened all over the world for a second time-this time in a more original version that inspired the first.Bombay:Lost and Found.Read an excerpt from the Maximum City here.
Meanwhile,Mira Nair is directing a movie on another Mumbai based book,Shantaram(2003).
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