Vikas Swarup’s Book in Demand | Author Vikas Swarup Photos, Pics

The celluloid version of Slumdog Millionaire may have captured the imagination of people across the world but so is the book whose sales have seen a brisk increase over the last few days.

As is well known, the film is based on Vikas Swarup’s Q&A, the book which is now retailed under the more popular Slumdog title. The past week alone has seen a near 40-45 per cent increase in sales.

“On Monday alone (when news of the movie sweeping the Oscars was telecast live across India), we sold over 75 books in Mumbai only compared with around 160 last week,” said Mr Sivaraman Balakrishnan, Deputy Manager, Marketing at Crossword Book Store. Swarup’s Q&A is a rag-to-riches tale about an 18-year-old slum dweller who makes a fortune on a television game show. The author wrote this book on weekends over a period of two months when he was working as a diplomat in London in 2003. This was rediscovered by readers when Danny Boyle screened it as Slumdog Millionaire.

Ironically, the book did not exactly set shelves afire when it made its debut in 2005. Sales were slow to begin with but gained momentum only years later towards November- December 2008 after the film got global attention and began its award winning spree. “Last month after winning the Golden Globe, the original cover of the book was also changed to emboss a scene from the film instead. This helped boost sales,” Mr Balakrishnan said.

Mr P.M. Shenvi, Manager at Strand Book Stall has a similar story to share. “This morning, no sooner did we open the store than we sold over 20 copies,” he said. According to him, there has been a near buying frenzy in the last two weeks. “We did not have stocks for a while as the books literally flew off the shelves,” he added.

According to Mr Wayne Shackelton, Regional Manager of Landmark, there has been an overwhelming demand for the book since the time the Oscar buzz began. Estimates are that sales over the last 45 days have exceeded the number since the time the book was first released nearly four years back.

The Indian publisher of Slumdog, Random House is also exploring the option of translating it in other Indian languages. “Seeing the market demand, we will shortly release the Hindi edition, Slumdog Crorepati, which will be on the lines of the film,” said Ms Rachel Tanver, Director of Publicity.


Article Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/26/stories/2009022651441700.htm