Lord Jeffrey Archer, the go-to author for every person boarding a distinctly long train journey, is in Mumbai for the launch of yet another crime thriller (Surprise surprise!). The guys at DNA India caught up with him for a tiny tête-à-tête.
Apart from the usual questions about the characters in his Clifton Chronicles books, we also get to know about some of his pet peeves, Bollywood being among one of the main culprits! On being asked about his new movie which features India heavily, he doesn’t mince words.
“On this trip I am looking for an interested Indian partner. And that does not mean some second rate Bollywood idiot (guffaws) who goes around saying he’s a Bollywood star producer and then he is not! (Laughing) Such has been my Indian experience many times.”
We’ve also apparently been stealing a bunch of his story ideas, which is really annoying, especially to a 74 year old(He’s pretty old)!
“Just look at your Bollywood! These bunch of thieves have stolen several of my books without so much as a ‘by your leave’. Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl (‘Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less’) and Khudgarz (‘Kane and Able’) and several others.”
Interesting fact, Jeffrey actually served 2 years in prison for lying and cheating in his case against the Daily Star in 2001. So I guess he IS kind of badass.
Good luck Jeff!