Q&A with Ashok Banker on the Ramayana films, Mahabharata series, and more.
Recent media reports about my Ramayana series being adapted to film led to several mediapersons calling and emailing me, wanting more info. I’ve already put a sampling of their questions alongwith my answers on the FAQ’s page. But here are the fully detailed answers issued through my publishers Penguin India:
After the success of your Ramayana series, people are waiting eagerly for y our Mahabharata. When is it being published?

I’m now on the final draft of my Mba, which is what I jokingly call my Mahabharata–the Ramayana was my graduate degree, and this is my MBA! I’ll be submitting the volumes as I revise them, starting in a few weeks, and the series will start appearing in bookstores sometime in 2008. For more information, please read the previous post, My Mahabharata: The Last Mile.
We heard recently (DNA, Times of India, Mumbai Mirror, etc) that your Ramayana series is being adapted to film? Details, please!

Yes. I can now confirm that there is a major adaptation of my Ramayana books in the works. Over the past several months, I received several substantial offers from major Hollywood studios and production houses including Warner Brothers, Sir Ben Kingsley Pictures, Michael Radford and Chris Rose, Future Group, Canyon Entertainment, Endeavour Agency, William Morris Agency, Adlabs Films, and people working with ILM (George Lucas’ special effects company), New Line Cinema, and the director and producer of 300, all of whom expressed their enthusiasm as huge fans of the books. I was most keen on Sir Ben Kingsley as I felt he had a keen understanding of our culture, being of Indian origin himself, and would make a terrific Vishwamitra as well! A representative of Sir Ben met me sometime last year, and after hectic negotiations, I finally signed an MoU and the first film is in development now. Production is expected to start in 2008. As of now, I can’t confirm the cast and crew of the film, but I do know that major names are attached. This is a major Hollywood production, with three films planned back-to-back and a total budget of well over half a billion dollars. Ironically, though, I’m told now that Sir Ben is no longer producing the films and that a major Hollywood studio is backing it instead. The budget per film is said to be $180 million, and all three films are to be shot in India, with even the VFX (Visual Effects) being done in Indian digital studios. As we all know, India is already outsourcing VFX for major Hollywood movies, so it’s about time we showed our magic on a film based on our own culture! The starcast and crew will be international and Indian mixed together, and the films are being produced for an international audience, with a major worldwide release. I’m told the starcast and crew are being finalized and negotiations are on even now. As and when they’re finalized, the producers will certainly publicize the news from LA.
Word is that you’ve been paid a fabulous sum for the rights?
Well, it’s a major production, and my fee is pegged to the budget of the film, as per Writers Guild standards–in fact, the percentage is exactly what the WGA is currently striking for in the USA. So yes, I guess I’m lucky to get a good deal, but as I said to every producer who approached me for the rights, the Ramayana is a public-domain property, why do you need to buy the rights to my retelling? Just remake Valmiki and you’ll have a great Ramayana film for free! But they still wanted to pay me millions for the rights to my books, so why should I refuse? Also, the series has sold around 445,000 copies worldwide, with at least a million readers, and more discovering it everyday, so I suppose there must be something in my version that appeals to a number of people.
The articles in DNA, Times of India, and Mumbai Mirror said that Michael Radford of Il Postino fame is directing the Ramayana films. Is this confirmed?
It’s true that Michael Radford did come to Mumbai and visit me twice recently, and we spent a couple of lovely afternoons talking about films in general and the Ramayana films in particular. But in the end, I believe another director is being engaged for the project. It also seems that the people backing Michael are aligned with another set of financial backers than the ones who are currently funding the films, so there seems to be some conflict there too! Both the conflicting producers are named Shah and are both NRIs, so I wonder if it’s some sort of sibling fall-out! Also, I believe Michael has issues with the religious and cultural aspects of the epics, and has admitted his discomfort with portraying them in a purely Indian fashion. I think he’s a great screenwriter and director but in order to do a great job of adapting epics like these–whether my versions or anyone else’s–it requires an implicit acceptance of Indian thought and philosophy. Michael had some concerns that he needs to resolve before taking on a task as challenging as these great epics. As of now, I’ve respectfully declined Michael’s offer and am not working with him on this or any other project. His producer Chris Rose has made a counter-offer to me regarding the Mahabharata series as well, which also I have refused.
Why aren’t the films based on your scripts? As a former scriptwriter for television and documentaries, wouldn’t you want to adapt the books yourself?
I was offered a fee of $750,000 to write the screenplay for the film, and I toyed around with notes and ideas for a while, but finally it would have meant taking valuable time off from writing my Mba–even perhaps abandoning the Mba altogether. I’m sure my readers will agree that it’s better for me to go on writing new books than to spend several more years adapting the old ones to the screen. So I declined.
Is the film adaptation of your Ramayana series books going to be an animated film? I read something about you writing an animated film.

The film adaptation of my Ramayana series is intended to be a live-action film with Indian actors, shot on actual locations as well as sets. It would be what’s called a VFX film these days, definitely not animation. However, I love the medium of animation and I am independently co-producing and directing an animation film based on an original story I’ve written, titled Mahabaalak with an Indian animation studio. I’m also co-producing a feature film with Prana Studios titled Sword of Dharma, also based on an original screenstory by me. These are both independent of the Ramayana films, and are being co-produced under the Epic India banner, which is also my website.
If you were given a chance to cast the Ramayana films, what would be your ideal cast?

When Sir Ben Kingsley and I spoke originally, before I sold the rights, he told me he had a number of prominent star friends whom he felt suited certain roles perfectly–Nicole Kidman for Supanakha, and she had apparently read the first book and loved it, Sir Anthony Hopkins for Sugreeva, Will Smith for a key role, Daniel Craig for Ravana, and we even discussed some possibilities for the Indian parts–Aishwarya for Sita, Amitabh Bachchan for Dasaratha, Abhishek as the grown-up Rama. I personally feel Shah Rukh would make a great Ravana, he would bring character and nuance to the part, add the shades of grey that are required. And Sir Ben himself would be a great Vishwamitra or even Vibhisena. I’m waiting just as eagerly to see who’s finally signed.
what-are-you-stupid-how-wikipedia-editors-abuse-and-insult-contributors
This post has been deleted at the request of a Wikipedia contributor. His apology is accepted, although the abusive incident and the fact that it occurred at all, reflects poorly on Wikipedia’s management.
To read more about how Wikipedia fails to contain or curb repeated racial abuse, bigotry, anti-Asian, anti-ethnic prejudice and bias, among several other misuses of its position as a trusted reference source, read this enlightening blog post by another fellow sufferer and also check out this article and this one, and this one too and also this one to know how differently writers of color are treated on the world’s most visited online “encyclopaedia”.
I’d also like to note for the record that I’ve never edited my own Wikipedia Page, and if I had, I would have surely made it far more accurate, balanced, and informative–the present Wikipedia page on me is riddled with rumours, inaccuracies, borderline libellious statements, and a great deal of other statements that neither conform to Wikipedia’s own rules of editing, nor do they cover the basic facts of my life, career, or work satisfactorily.
Oh, and all those links are pointing to defunct or non-existent pages. As I’ve said elsewhere, even I can’t write fiction as well as some of those Wikipedia editors and contributors, except of course, they call it “facts”!
Ramayana series – The graphic novel
I’m pleased to announce yet another comic book series written by me. (Apart from my ‘Kali’ comic for Vertigo Comics.)
This is the official graphic novel adaptation of my Ramayana series. Each book in the six-book series is being adapted into one full-length graphic novel in full colour. So there will be six graphic novels adapting the six books, with the same titles as the books. And of course, if the 7th and 8th books in the series are published too, then they will be adapted to graphic novel format as well.
The graphic novels are being written by that lifelong comicbook fan and aspiring comicbook writer since the age of 9, Shri Ashok Banker. That’s right. I’m writing the adaptation myself.
The artist is Enrique Alcatena or Quique as he’s affectionately known. Quique is an Argentinian artist based in Buenos Aires who’s known for his fantasy comic book art, particularly his collaborations with Eduardo Mazzitelli.
Visit Quique’s official website and gallery to see a few glimpses of his work. He has already turned in the first pages of art for Prince of Ayodhya and I can tell you that they’re scrumptious. Atmospheric, striking, and unforgettable. This isn’t ACK, folks. It’s the AKB Ramayana rendered in a visual style that you haven’t seen anything quite like before.
Rather than hype it further, I will post some samples from the first graphic novel here on my website in time. Probably in March or April 2008, once the first section is complete.
The series will not be issued as individual comics, by the way, except perhaps as a sample issue or two to let readers with limited budgets get a ‘taste’ of the work before investing in a more pricey full-length graphic novel. The graphic novels themselves are the main body of work, and the adaptation is meant to be read as complete graphic novels.
As a fan of alternative comics–or ‘comix’ as we used to call them back in the 70s–I must also say that Quique’s art looks so great even in black & white that I actually wouldn’t mind seeing the series in B&W too. But that decision will depend on various factors, mostly to do with retail pricing and what readers want.
Either way, I have to say, I’m thrilled to be working on this project and constantly amazed at how little time it actually involves (for me, at least–for Quique it’s a lot of work, obviously). I guess that’s because I know this story so well now, and the characters and plot, that it’s as if I had the graphic novel script in my head all along, and all I’m doing now is transcribing it to paper.
It’s a great experience, and, I believe, a really great graphic novel series in the making. And sometime this year, when the first book is published in India, I hope you’ll agree with me.
“Read it just for the way it is written…”
the Ramayana series by Ashok Banker – excellent in narration and handling, again I have devoured two and I feel I shall finish this series first before moving on. Banker is a brilliant writer and he handles the story extremely well. I believe that anyone interested in reading should pick up this series – not only those interested in mythology, for the series can be looked upon in a multitude of ways. One can see it in a religious light, wherein it becomes mythology, or one can see it as an extremely well written piece of work, and read it just for the way it is written…the story is one that is known to many…so that is not something that you look out for..however he does mention some issues which I havent heard of…hence now looking for the Sanskrit version by Valmiki…
Best of the rest
I love ‘best’ lists, even the woefully short-sighted ‘year’s best’ ones that throng cyberspace at this time of year. Despite their tendency to spotlight the over-hyped few instead of illuminating the lesser-known many, they still provide great recos to build my own buy list and help me whittle down my typically 1000+ must-read books a year to a more manageable 300-odd. (I allow myself a book a day, although I rarely actually read that many a year, unless you count graphic novels too and reference/research texts too, in which case, I read at least two a day.)
So it was only inevitable that I should have a favourite ‘Best’ even among the many dozen ‘best of the year’ lists I read through in the past day or two.
And I have to say that this collection of lists on the Aqueduct Press group blog really was a wonderful find. Most definitely my definitive best of the rest of the year’s reading lists.
For one thing, virtually all the books–barring a few obvious SFFH ones–are not on most of the typical media lists of the year’s most-hyped books/movies/albums.
For another thing, a lot of the selections–again, barring some of the SFFH ones–are excellent, something I can vouch for personally, having read at least a few and finding several more in common with my own personal must-read-soon list.
(And by the way, I don’t mean that I don’t like SFFH books; on the contrary, I love the speculative genre and read a fair number of books in the genre. It’s just that the SF, Fantasy and Horror choices in the lists tended to be books written by the blogger-in-question’s friends, which to my viewpoint at least, seems to lead to questionably mediocre choices–but that’s just my view.)
And a third reason (if you still need one) was that several of the choices are either overtly feminist, or entirely composed of women writers. Not only that, but more than one of them are among my personal favourites as authors–especially Nicola Griffith whose science fiction novels Slow River and Ammonite are among my all-time best SF novels, and whose Aud novels are not just excellent crime novels but also excellent novels featuring a same-sex-inclined protagonist (in less p.c. terms, a lesbian) that disproves the usually tired American noir rehash of cliche sexual stereotypes. Griffith’s work is, to me, a girlshapedlovedrug, like the lovely pop song from Gomez she mentions in her entry!
Browse through the lists, look up the books, and read at least a few of them. I plan to!
Link courtesy Boing Boing
Sold out on pre-order! 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 