Ashwin Sanghi is among India’s highest selling
English authors. He has written several bestsellers
- The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krish-
na Key and a New York Times bestselling crime
thriller Private India with James Patterson. In-
cluded by Forbes India in their Celebrity 100, Ash-
win has also penned non-fiction titles such as 13
Steps to Bloody Good Luck. Hybrid Hues is indeed
grateful to (and also surprized) Ashwin for having
spoken to us.
HH: Your book, Chanakya’s
Chant is being adapted into
a movie. Do you have any ap-
prehensions about the possi-
ble deviations from the book?
Do you believe that with the
dramatizing liberties taken
by the film producers, some
core essence of a book is
lost?
AS: Let me correct the record.
Chanakya’s Chant is not current-
ly under adaptation though some
of my other works are. Now to
answer your question: the prob-
lem is that most authors tend to
be in love with every scene that
they put into their novels. This
means that they are disinclined to
allow deviations from the original
story. I have watched great films
like The Godfather—which was
based on a Mario Puzo novel that
wasn’t outstanding. I have also
seen films like the Da Vinci Code,
which was rather mediocre in
comparison to the original—and
outstanding—Dan Brown novel.
I am practical enough to rea