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Dr Daruwalla headed for big screen

A P Kamath

Six years after the exploits of Dr Farook Daruwalla in John Irving's A Son of the Circus helped make the novel an international best-seller, the writer says Hollywood is showing interest in a movie version.

He would like to have Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges play two key parts, Irving told the Daily News. Naseeruddin Shah could be a candidate to play Daruwalla.

Irving has been nominated for an Oscar for the adaptation of his novel, The Cider House Rules, which has garnered six other nods including one best picture, and has grabbed an impressive $ 48 million at the American box-office.

Hollywood insiders believe that Miramax, which released The Cider House Rules is seriously considering backing the Circus project which could be a mid-level, $ 35 million movie.

Irving says he got the idea for A Son of the Circus when he saw a distinguished looking South Asian immigrant crossing a Toronto street.

"I was in my car and it had stopped at the red light," he said. Suddenly, he thought about the images many people have about immigrants. "I thought this man must have had an interesting life in his own country, and yet how many of us would know about him -- or care to know about him."

In the novel, which he wrote after making several trips to India, Daruwalla is a dreamy, eccentric person neither at home in Mumbai nor Toronto, his new home.

The novel gets his title from Daruwalla's passion for collecting blood from dwarfs (to study their genes) and going to the circus. He is also fond of writing screenplays for Bollywood movies.

Part murder mystery about a serial killer, part meditation on faith and part travelogue, Irving's eighth novel, is considered among his better novels. His other books include A Prayer for Owen Meany.

He told the Daily News that he wrote the script first, about ten years ago, and then began conjuring the novel. He is not surprised that it has taken a long time for the film project to materialize.

His current hit has been in the works for over 12 years. The now on, now delayed project has had four directors attached to it and was rewritten each time the director changed.

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