Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer is angry over some Bollywood producers "stealing" his work without making any compensation and wants the government to rein in such elements.
According to the 74-year-old author, his novel "Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less" was made into the rom-com "Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl" and "Kane and Abel" into "Khudgarz" without his permission.
"I am naturally unhappy that Bollywood producers steal my work and make no attempt to make any compensation. It's very disappointing that the Indian government allow them to get away with it. They should of course contact my agent, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown in London," Archer, who was in India last week to promote "Mightier than the Sword", the fifth book in the compelling "The Clifton Chronicles" series, told PTI.
Over the years the writer has had a love-hate relationship with Bollywood.
There are now murmurs that Bollywood might be investing in adapting "Only Time Will Tell", his first novel in "The Clifton Chronicles", published by Pan Macmillan.
During his recent five-city tour of Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, he met producer Ronnie Screwvala in Mumbai.
"I was delighted to be able to seek the advice of the distinguished producer Ronnie Screwvala, as I wanted to find out who to approach on the Indian Subcontinent to become a partner in the television series of 'The Clifton Chronicles'. He gave me very good advice," says Archer.
On March 3, Archer had tweeted, "Good to meet distinguished producer @RonnieScrewvala for breakfast this morning-taught me a huge amount about Indian film industry in 2 hrs."
His next book in "The Clifton Chronicles" will have an Indian character and eight chapters of it will be set in Mumbai.
"I've been travelling to India regularly over the past 30 years, have many close Indian friends in England, and between them and considerable reading, I now feel confident about writing eight chapters in the next volume of 'The Clifton Chronicles'," he says.
But Archer says he is still not ready to write an Indian novel.
"I still have no intention of writing a full length Indian novel, as I do not have the confidence to embark on such a venture," he reasons.
