Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov, director of The Shameless starring Cannes winner Anasuya Sengupta, (in an interview to TOI) credited William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives: In Search Of The Sacred In Modern India, for seeding the idea of making a documentary set in modern India. Speaking to us, Dalrymple shared his joy at having inspired the talked-about film.

“I haven’t seen The Shameless. But I’m thrilled Nine Lives inspired this wonderful movie,” said the historian, broadcaster, curator and critic.

Bojanov has spoken about how in spite of working on the documentary he eventually moved on to make the feature. Dalrymple said, “Reading the book gave Konstantin the idea of this subject. I am delighted that Nine Lives has been the inspiration for this project.”

Dalrymple also praised the lead actor who won the Best Performance award at Cannes. “I am thrilled about Anasuya receiving such incredible acclaim for what is her first (full-fledged) film role. From the clips that I have seen, she is astonishing, even though she is not actually an actor,” he said, adding, “So all credit to her, all credit to Konstantin. I think my role in it is very small, but it definitely provided the start. I would urge everybody to go watch the film and read the book.”

“I was in Brooklyn and I picked up William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives in a local bookstore. I became fascinated by the themes it tackled – from art, tradition, modernity to sexuality and friendship in the complex and dynamic India of today. Without Nine Lives, the movie would never have existed,” Konstantin Bojanov said in an interview with TOI.