'Mumbaistan will definitely be made into a film'

... says filmmaker Piyush Jha, who authored the book
Could you tell us about your book, Mumbaistan?
Mumbaistan is an entertaining crime-thriller novel written absolutely within the genre defines of crime-fiction complete with hard-boiled heroes and femme fatales desperately trying to find justice within a crumbling, morally ambiguous city.
This is your first novel, what is the inspiration behind this book?
I grew up in Mumbai, and I love the city.I have watched as the city has grown, and turned into a creature that I cannot recognise. As I saw things around me deteriorating, I felt like doing something. And so, I wrote this book which is my ode to Mumbai. I wanted readers from across India to have a taste of Mumbai the way I look at it.
Why did you choose crime-thriller genre for your debut novel?
I love crime-fiction genre. Authors like Jeffery Archer, Agatha Christie were my favourites. So, when I decide to step into this field it was a natural gravitation towards the genre that I love. You can say that my love for Mumbai and my love for crime-fiction got married and gave birth to Mumbaistan!
What was the most difficult part when writing this book?
The most difficult part for me is to get up and get to the writing table. My mind is always telling me that I have other better things to do. But, when I get going, its smooth sailing at most times. While writing this book I had a great time. The most difficult part was when I finished it. I wanted to continue, but knew that I had to end it.
How did the shift happen -- from direction to writing?
In between scripts, I started penning down some thoughts. These thoughts became short stories, which grew to become Novellas, and by that time I was having so much fun that I decided to write more. Before I knew it, I had three novellas and I put them together to form Mumbaistan.
Several authors chose to make movies based on their novel - do you have any such plans?
Absolutely. Talks for turning Mumbaistan into a film are already on. In fact, each of the novellas might soon be adapted into a film.
What are your future projects?
Mumbaistan - The film, and two more crime-thriller novels that will come out next year. And recently, I've also been asked by my publishers to work on Mumbaistan-2.