Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer is angry over some Bollywood producers "stealing" his work without making any compensation and wants the government to rein in such elements.
According to the 74-year-old author, his novel Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less was made into the rom-com Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and Kane and Abel into Khudgarz without his permission.
"I am naturally unhappy that Bollywood producers steal my work and make no attempt to make any compensation. It's very disappointing that the Indian government allows them to get away with it. They should of course contact my agent, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown in London," Mr Archer, who was in India last week to promote Mightier than the Sword, the fifth book in the The Clifton Chronicles series, told PTI.
Over the years the writer has had a love-hate relationship with Bollywood.
There are now murmurs that Bollywood might be investing in adapting Only Time Will Tell, his first novel in The Clifton Chronicles, published by Pan Macmillan.
During his recent five-city tour of Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, he met producer Ronnie Screwvala in Mumbai.
"I was delighted to be able to seek the advice of the distinguished producer Ronnie Screwvala, as I wanted to find out who to approach in the Indian Subcontinent to become a partner in the television series of The Clifton Chronicles. He gave me very good advice," said Mr Archer.
On March 3, Mr Archer had tweeted, "Good to meet distinguished producer @RonnieScrewvala for breakfast this morning-taught me a huge amount about Indian film industry in 2 hrs (Will embed)
His next book in The Clifton Chronicles will have an Indian character and eight chapters of it will be set in Mumbai.
"I've been travelling to India regularly over the past 30 years, have many close Indian friends in England, and between them and considerable reading, I now feel confident about writing eight chapters in the next volume of The Clifton Chronicles," he said.
But Mr Archer revealed he was still not ready to write an Indian novel.
"I still have no intention of writing a full length Indian novel, as I do not have the confidence to embark on such a venture," he reasoned.
With all the trademark twists and turns that have made Mr Archer one of the world's most popular authors, the spellbinding story of the Clifton and the Barrington families continues in Mightier than the Sword.
The novel opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MV Buckingham's maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
When the protagonist Harry Clifton visits his publisher in New York, he learns that he has been elected as the new president of English PEN, and immediately launches a campaign for the release of a fellow author, Anatoly Babakov, who's imprisoned in Siberia.
Babakov's crime was that he wrote a book called Uncle Joe, a devastating insight into what it was like to work for Stalin. So determined is Harry to see Babakov released and the book published, that he puts his own life in danger.
His wife Emma, chairman of Barrington Shipping, is facing the repercussions of the IRA attack on the Buckingham. Some board members feel she should resign, and Lady Virginia Fenwick will stop at nothing to cause Emma's downfall.
Sir Giles Barrington is now a minister of the Crown, and looks set for even higher office, until an official trip to Berlin does not end as a diplomatic success.
Once again, Giles' political career is thrown off balance by none other than his old adversary, Major Alex Fisher, who again stands against him at the election.
In London, Harry and Emma's son, Sebastian, is quickly making a name for himself at Farthing's Bank in London, and has proposed to the beautiful young American, Samantha. But the despicable Adrian Sloane, a man interested only in his own advancement and the ruin of Sebastian, will stop at nothing to remove his rival.
Mr Archer first came up with the idea of the series while working on a 30th anniversary edition of Kane and Abel, first published in 1979. He intends to write seven Clifton Chronicles and is working on number six.
