Vikas Swarup

Vikas Swarup is an Indian novelist best known for his novels Q&A and Six Suspects. His debut novel Q&A tells the story of how a penniless waiter in Mumbai becomes the biggest winner of a uiz show in history. It was critically acclaimed in India and abroad, being translated into 41 different languages. It was shortlisted for the Best First Book by the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and won many other awards. A BBC Radio Play was based on the book and went on to win two awards in 2008. Film4 in the UK had optioned the movie rights and movie title 'Slumdog Millionaire' and also went on to receive global critical acclaim.

Six Suspects has also been translated in many different languages and has been optioned for a film by the BBC and John Hodge, who wrote the script for films such as Trainspotting has been commissioned to write the screenplay.

Inspiration for Slumdog Millionaire

In addition to Swarup's original novel, the film was also inspired by Indian cinema. Tandan has referred to Slumdog Millionaire as a homage to Hindi commercial cinema. Boyle has cited the influence of several Bollywood films set in Mumbai. Satya (1998) and Company (2002) both offered 'slick, often mesmerizing portrayals of the Mumbai underworld' and displayed realistic 'brutality and urban violence.' Boyle has also stated that the chase in one of the opening scenes of Slumdog Millionaire was based on a '12-minute police chase through the crowded Dharavi slum' in Black Friday (2004). Deewar (1975) which Boyle described as being 'absolutey key to the Indian cinema' is a crime film based on the Bombay gangster Haj Mastan, whose autograph Jamal seeks at the beginning of Slumdog Millionaire. 

The rags-to-riches underdog theme underlying the film was also a recurring theme in classic Bollywood movies from the 1950s through to the 1980s, when "India worked to lift itself from hunger and poverty." 

Recent films in Film4 Production

The film I have chosen from Film4 is 'Slumdog Millionaire'. It is a 2008 British film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Simon Beaufoy and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q&A written in 2005 by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbia who appears on the Indian verison of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and exceeds many people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. 

It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film in 2008, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven BAFTA awards including Best Film, five Critics' Choice awards, and four Golden Globe awards.