It is not long before a filmmaker comes knocking on the door of a writer who spins the stuff of dreams. Amitav Ghosh is no stranger to such parleys. His interest in cinema is well known: He has served on the juries of the Locarno Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival. But last month, when a popular newspaper quoted Ghosh as saying that he had received offers from three Bollywood filmmakers, the news inspired a collective gasp -- two parts disbelief and one part delight -- among his readers.
Actor Rahul Bose reads from
Sea of Poppies
He threw his hands up in mock horror when
rediff.com confronted him with the question. "I told the reporter that three Bollywood producers have expressed interest, but when I saw the paper the next day it said they had made offers." he says, his eyes wide open. "There is a big difference!"
Aren't you concerned that Bollywood, with its weakness for melodrama and overstatement, might trivialise your stories?
I wouldn't assume that. Sometimes Bollywood does a good job. For example, I thought Parineeta was very powerfully made and preserved in some way the essence of the book. Whereas Devdas didn't.
Which filmmaker would you trust with preserving the essence of your books?
I don't want to name names. Several major Bollywood people have spoken to me but when they have to deal with me, they know that there this structure of agents. And that becomes more than what they are set up to deal with.
Which books would you like to see made into a film?
The Hungry Tide and The Calcutta Chromosome. But I'm not a writer who feels he should have a very powerful control over the film of the book. I recognise that there is a huge gap between the novel as a form and the film as a form. Sometimes, the director does have to re-imagine the book. But if you take a book like R K Narayan's Guide, Bollywood did add a certain kind of magic...
But that wasn't Bollywood as we know it. It was the Hindi film. And there is a difference today...
That's right. But I find it strange how Bollywood is changing again. You see it in certain kinds of short films and offbeat romances -- Jab We Met was delightful, Rahul Bose was great in Jhankaar Beats, Chameli was a lot of fun. I loved Main Hoon Na. That's something Bollywood is really good at.
But if you compare the filmmaking of Bollywood with Chinese filmmaking, that's where you begin to see what has really gone missing. In Chinese films -- especially in contemporary Chinese films -- it's not like the songs or magic or dances aren't there. But there is a real engagement with the big themes, the big histories, the serious stuff. Somehow, Bollywood hasn't made that transition and one of the reasons why they haven't done so is because they are not dealing with contemporary literature.
It strikes to me as so strange that many Indian directors are interested in Shakespeare. Shekhar Kapur once e-mailed to ask me if I want to work on a screenplay for a movie. I was very touched but it was not anything I wanted to do.
Video, click above: Rahul Bose reads from Sea of Poppies at the book launch.
Also read: Love and belonging in Kolkata
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