Books are now inspiring big screen projects even before they go into print or hit bookstores
Books are now inspiring big screen projects even before they go into print or hit bookstores
What do I, Romantic and Diary of An Unreasonable Man by Rajeev Jhaveri and Madhav Mathur have in common?
Both were commissioned as movies even before they were published. In the case of I, Romantic, the novel isn't even out in bookstores yet, even as the screenplay is being worked on.u00a0u00a0 
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Author Rajeev Jhaveri's novel, I, Romantic has not yet hit bookstores but it
is already being developed into a screenplay
Books have always inspired movies, the last (and infamous) one being 3 Idiots, based on Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone. But for a book to inspire a movie while it's being written could mean two things: either the author is a budding filmmaker or that the industry is so out of ideas, they'll grab anything. Both theories hold true.u00a0
Producer/ publisher
I, Romantic is about an armyman who quits the force after an encounter with a film student initiates some soul searching.
A few months ago, author Rajeev met Ravi Agrawal of Plus Entertainment (Right Yaaa Wrong, Radio), and bounced off the theme. Ravi decided he wanted to make a film and publish the book. That's how Plus Ink, a sister concern of Plus Entertainment was born. Rajeev is now under a five-book contract with Plus Ink. Plus Ink is on the lookout for authors whose books can be viable big screen projects. The keenness on getting the book out first, as Ravi puts it, is because: "A book lends respectability to a film."u00a0
Another author writing for Plus Ink is animator Mehboob Elham, 32. Mehboob is currently writing Last Dream. The story: a guy sees a recurring dream, which unfolds like a story every night. He gets so involved, he's desperate to sleep just to know what happens next. Mehboob has known Ravi for several years and when he once casually mentioned the idea, Plus Ink took it on.
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Written, read, locked
It was a slightly different sequence of events for Madhav Mathur and his book The Diary of An Unreasonable Man. The story of an executive who wants to change the world, it was published late last year, though Madhav always wanted it to be made into a movie. The honours are being done by Anurag Kashyap.u00a0 
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Author Madhav Mathur whose novel Diary of An Unreasonable Man is now
being made into a movie by Anurag Kashyap
"My writing style is very visual and I like to describe things that I care about in great detail," he says. Madhav who admires Anurag's work, got in touch with the filmmaker through his blog. "He liked the ideas and I was invited to meet him in Mumbai." The Singapore-based banker carried along the manuscript. While journeying from Mumbai to Pune, Anurag read it from start to finish. "At the end of it, he said he wanted to make it into a movie," says Madhav with a smile.u00a0
Some books, even those not intended for movies, read like movies, packed with visual action and dramatic sequences. So when an author is aware his the book will become a screenplay, doesn't it affect his style?
Mehboob, Madhav and Rajeev don't think so. "Anurag was not involved with the writing or editing of the book.
We only talked about how some things could be different when it's adapted for screen," claims Madhav.
Mehboob insists that Last Dream is only a book now. And Rajeev, whose second novel which is unfinished and is already been locked for a film, echoes their sentiments.
And here's film to book
Westland Publishing is in talks with Anurag Kashyap to adapt his Dev.D into a graphic novel. "All of Anurag's screenplays can be republished as graphic novels. But we are still figuring it out," says Gautam Padmanabhan, CEO, Westland Books
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