Danny Boyle set for Slumdog reunion

Slumdog Millionaire was undoubtedly the little movie that could in 2008, winning a stack of Academy awards and garnering praise in nearly all quarters of the media. Now director Danny Boyle is set to reunite with Slumdog scribe Simon Beaufoy to adapt 'Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found' according to /film

This will not be an easy task though and will require creative lciense that he has been granted by  author Suketu Mehta, as the writer explains.

Maximum City is a non-fiction work, so it will be a huge challenge to find the story in it. It is a wonderful book and I used it in my initial research for Slumdog. There are some great characters in the book, but no stories, so my job will be to get the fictional out of a non-fictional story. Suketu is very understanding about my creative input and flexible about many changes. I will have to come up with something to bring together all the characters from the book into something that can make a film.

The book description is intriguing:

“A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider’s view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood; and delving into the stories of the countless villagers who come in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks.

A brilliantly illuminating portrait of Bombay and its people - a book as vast, diverse, and rich in experience, incident, and sensation as the city itself - from an award-winning Indian-American fiction writer and journalist.  A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us a true insider’s view of this stunning city, bringing to his account a rare level of insight, detail, and intimacy. He approaches the city from unexpected angles - taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs who wrest control of the city’s byzantine political and commercial systems . . . following the life of a bar dancer who chose the only life available to her after a childhood of poverty and abuse . . . opening the doors onto the fantastic, hierarchical inner sanctums of Bollywood . . . delving into the stories of the countless people who come from the villages in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks - the essential saga of a great city endlessly played out.

Through it all - as each individual story unfolds - we hear Mehta’s own story: of the mixture of love, frustration, fascination, and intense identification he feels for and with Bombay, as he tries to find home again after twenty-one years abroad. And he makes clear that Bombay - the world’s largest city - is a harbinger of the vast megalopolises that will redefine the very idea of “the city” in the near future.”

Going back to familiar territory can be a mixed blessing for a director, especially so soon after a massive hitr, in this case the shadow of Slumdog will loom large over the expectations of this movie, however with the talent involved I remain optimistic that we will get something of quality.