Usual Suspect

“The success of Slumdog… has inspired me to get this film out in the best manner possible,” says Raphael,52,who is on his first visit to the country “to get an organic feel of the place”. His last film,Under the Bombs,bagged the Human Rights Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2007 and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival,US,a year later.

In early 2008,Raphael saw the first draft of Six Suspects and immediately booked the novel through his agent. “It was an intense murder mystery set in Delhi and I was keen on doing it,” he says. He has yet to approach a director,although after the success of compatriot Danny Boyle’s Slumdog…,Raphael was inundated with offers.

Swarup’s episodic novel has more than a passing resemblance to incidents and characters in contemporary India. The book worked for Raphael as it presented a diverse and whimsical portrait of India — from Delhi to the Andamans. “It was a kaleidoscope of modern India. I always wanted to make a film here using a local subject. The book presented me with the right fodder,” says Raphael.

Paul is the son of author-screenplay writer Frederic Raphael who won an Oscar for screenplay for Darling (1965) and an Oscar nomination for Two for the Road (1967). “He would pack me into his car as he travelled around and I would stay with him,” recalls Paul fondly.

And his respect for a good story is rooted in those road trips with dad. “A good story is the basis of any film. But there are no rules for adapting a story. If the material dictates that the script has to be far removed from the book then so be it,” says Raphael,who is hopeful of beginning production in the summer of 2011. He also assures us of interesting parts for Indian actors in the film,with just one role for an American.