JAPAN: Interview with Vikas Swarup the "Slumdog Millionaire" author who says Oscar recognition will bring opportunities for India's next talent
Record ID:
384830
JAPAN: Interview with Vikas Swarup the "Slumdog Millionaire" author who says Oscar recognition will bring opportunities for India's next talent
- Title: JAPAN: Interview with Vikas Swarup the "Slumdog Millionaire" author who says Oscar recognition will bring opportunities for India's next talent
- Date: 12th March 2009
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 12, 2009) (REUTERS) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, WALKING INTO A ROOM SWARUP SITTING DOWN FOR AN INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SAYING "Like, we were all holding hands. I was sitting next to Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan and we were all like holding hands, you know, 'What's going to happen?' And then he (Steven Spielberg) says, 'And for best film the Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionaire!' And that was such a moment of euphoria. All of us just got up from our seats and we just had to get onto the stage and we got onto the stage and then you know seeing Loveleen Tandan who was there and the other child actors were there, they also enjoyed it. So it was like a huge celebration on the world's biggest stage. It was really an unforgettable moment." (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SAYING "And for me the enduring memory of that night was the sight of these two boys, these two little children Azhar and Rubina, you know, who had come all the way from Dharavi to Los Angeles sharing the same platform with Steven Spielberg." SWARUP'S BOOK "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" ON TABLE BOOK TITLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SAYING "That evening when I was sitting in the Kodak Theatre watching the Oscar ceremony unfold, the dominant emotion running through my mind when we had A.R. Rahman singing and the Bollywood dancers in their pink costumes were dancing on the Oscar stage, Freida Pinto was presenting an award, that India has really arrived on the world's biggest stage and this means that now there will be greater recognition for the talent that India has, for the talent Indian novelists have, for the talent that Indian film makers and actors have, and that can only be something for the positive." SWARUP SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SAYING "In fact, now I'm even being recognized and sort of accosted in shopping malls and that you know, that may not necessarily be a really good thing. So beyond the point, I think I find the media attention, the constant media attention, a bit unsettling. In fact, you know, as diplomats, you are trained to be more behind the scene than in front. But I'm also aware that this is a transient thing, eventually the hoopla surrounding the film and the book will die down and I'll go back to my normal life." SWARUP SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (English) VIKAS SWARUP, INDIAN DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SAYING "The world is curious about India: what is powering this 9 percent growth rate, how is India combining tradition with modernity. What mix India take? In a way, the success of the film also mirrors the success of India. Part of the reason for the film's success is because it was about India, it adapts into this global hunger for news about India, information about India."
- Embargoed: 27th March 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Reuters ID: LVA45NGZ9L0NUM9D0S1JTB81A64T
- Story Text: "Slumdog Millionaire" author Vikas Swarup says the film's recognition at the Oscars and the Golden Globe will sure to create a new pool of opportunities for India's aspiring talents.
Ever since the Oscar night with glitz and glam of Hollywood
"Slumdog Millionaire" author Vikas Swarup has not had the time to juggle two hats - a worldwide novelist and a diplomat for India.
Swarup, whose novel originally titled as "Q&A" became the basis for British director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches drama about a Mumbai slum kid, is India's deputy high commissioner to South Africa.
"Slumdog Millionaire" swept a total of eight Oscars, including best film at the end of the night at the 81st Academy Awards in February.
Swarup, 47, said his first Oscars experience was a surreal one.
"Like, we were all holding hands" he told Reuters in an interview in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday (March 12). "I was sitting next to Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan and we were all like holding hands, you know, 'What's going to happen?' And then he (Steven Spielberg) says, 'And for best film the Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionaire!' And that was such a moment of euphoria. All of us just got up from our seats and we just had to get onto the stage."
At the climax of the night, the stage was swarmed by jubilant members of the "Slumdog" cast and crew, including two child actors who were plucked from Mumbai's shantytowns to appear in the movie.
Swarup said the moment was a fairytale come true especially for the youngest cast members, Rubina Ali and Azhar Ismail, who have spent most of their lives in the squalor of Mumbai's slums.
"For me the enduring memory of that night was the sight of these two little children, Azhar and Rubina, you know, who had come all the way from Dharavi to Los Angeles sharing the same platform with Steven Spielberg."
India, home to the world's most prolific movie industry, has long tried to draw wider audiences, including recently forging ventures with Hollywood studios looking to offset sluggish box office sales with new markets and cheaper production costs.
Swarup said the recognition for "Slumdog" and his novel has created a new pool of opportunities for India's aspiring talents.
"That evening when I was sitting in the Kodak Theatre watching the Oscar ceremony unfold, the dominant emotion running through my mind when we had A.R. Rahman singing and the Bollywood dancers in their pink costumes were dancing on the Oscar stage, Freida Pinto was presenting an award, that India has really arrived on the world's biggest stage and this means that now there will be greater recognition for the talent that India has, for the talent Indian novelists have, for the talent that Indian film makers and actors have, and that can only be something for the positive," the Indian author said.
Swarup penned the novel at the end of a diplomatic posting in London in 2003.
Now, his novel has been translated into over 40 languages, including Hindi.
Rather like his central character, who is thrust from obscurity to become a millionaire, he's an accidental celebrity, and appears slightly shell-shocked by the film's success.
"I'm even being recognized and sort of accosted in shopping malls," said Swarup. "In fact as diplomats, you are trained to be more behind the scene than in front, but I'm also aware that this is a transient thing - eventually the hoopla surrounding the film and the book will die down and I'll go back to my normal life."
A diplomat to the core Swarup is busy working as India's deputy high commissioner to South Africa, where he lives with his family.
His busy schedule only leaves him to write in the morning and at night especially on the weekends while his colleagues are off to play golf.
For the past few months, Swarup has been traveling around the globe to promote his novel as well as the film.
The international author said the film's success reflects the progress of his home country.
"The world is curious about India - what is powering this 9 percent growth rate, how is India combining tradition with modernity. What mix India take?" said Swarup. "In a way, the success of the film also mirrors the success of India. Part of the reason for the film's success is because it was about India, it taps into this global hunger for news about India, information about India."
Swarup was born in Allahabad, India in a family of lawyers and grew up being a champion debater and quiz master, who always dreamed of going on a quiz show just like "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire."
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 and has served as a diplomat in various countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Ethiopia.
With a second book under his belt -- an Indian crime novel called "Six Suspects" -- and the film rights already sold, Swarup is working on his third.
He won't divulge details, but says it's based somewhere outside of India in a "fictional European country". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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