Vijay Singh
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Biography


Vijay Singh

Manifeste du Surrealisme
'Manifestoes of Surrealism' by André Breton

Vijay Singh is an Indian novelist, screenplay-writer and film-maker living in Paris.

A graduate in History from St Stephen's College, Delhi, with a postgraduate degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he moved to Paris for doctoral work at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. This move-over was precipitated principally by his passion for French literature and surrealism, particularly after a chance encounter with André Breton’s Manifestoes of Surrealism.

While still a student in Paris, he started contributing articles to the French press in the early eighties. This was the beginning of his career as a journalist. He has written extensively for several leading French and international newspapers such as Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, Libération and The Guardian, covering some of the most turbulent events of that epoch – Operation Blue Star, the Bhopal Gas tragedy, Indira Gandhi’s assassination and its gruesome aftermath…

In 1984, a leading French publisher asked him to write a book on India. Vijay Singh decided to undertake a long and hazardous journey down the holy river Ganges, from its source in the snow-bound Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. With this “pilgrimage” as the central thread, and a surrealist Franco-Indian love-story as his inspiration, he wrote his first novel, Jaya Ganga, In Search of the River Goddess (Ramsay 1985, Penguin 1989, Rupa 2005). The book received stupendous response from the entire French press.

Since then, Vijay Singh has written several books that have won wide critical acclaim internationally: La Nuit Poignardée (Flammarion, 1987), Whirlpool of Shadows (Jonathan Cape, 1992, Rupa 1992,  2005) and a dreamy tale for children, The River Goddess (Gallimard Jeunesse/Moonlight, 1994). Whirlpool of Shadows was listed by the 1992 Booker Prize Winner, Barry Unsworth, as one his three Best Books of the Year in The Sunday Times, UK.  

Vijay Singh’s entry into the world of images and cinema was pure accident. In 1989, a young French producer knocked at his door. He didn’t have any specific project or film in mind, but he nevertheless insisted on doing a documentary with Vijay Singh. Singh’s idea to make a documentary on the theme of man and animal led to the making of Man and Elephant (Chami and Ana), a 30’ film, part fiction part documentary, on the relationship between an elephant keeper and his elephant in Kerala. To date, this film has been shown on over 100 televisions worldwide.

Jaya Ganga was Vijay Singh’s first feature film, an adaptation of his earlier novel. It premiered in competition at the World Film Festival, Montreal, and then travelled to over 50 international festivals. It ran for 49 weeks in the Paris cinemas before playing on 80 screens in the UK. The film received tremendous press response internationally. The Guardian called it “a mesmerising film...One of the most authentic depictions of everyday Indian magic ever screened.”

His second feature film, One Dollar Curry, was shot entirely in Paris and released in France and the UK. It ran to full houses for several weeks in North India and was highly acclaimed by the press.

Vijay Singh has been a guest speaker at several conferences held worldwide and has also made individual presentations of his work at the Universities of Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford. He has also held workshops for film students on “Literature and Cinema” at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

He was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Award for the screenplay of Jaya Ganga, La Titine Best Film Award for his documentary Man and Elephant, and the Prix Villa Médicis hors les murs Award for foreign literature.


BOOKS
Jaya Ganga Book Cover Whirpool of Shadows CoverThe River GoddessLa Nuit Poignardee

in English

JAYA GANGA (Penguin books, London, Delhi 1990. Rupa 2005)
WHIRLPOOL OF SHADOWS (Jonathan Cape, London, 1992. Rupa 1992, 2005)
THE RIVER GODDESS, (Moonlight- Gallimard, London, 1994)  

in French

JAYA GANGA, LE GANGE ET SON DOUBLE (Ramsay, Paris1985, Gingko, 2005)
L’INDE, Editions Autrement, 1986, co-author.
LA NUIT POIGNARDEE (Flammarion, Paris, 1987)
TOURBILLON D’OMBRES, (Editions Ramsay, 1992, Ginkgo 2005).
LA DEESEE QUI DEVINT FLEUVE (Gallimard Jeunesse, 1993).
ESCALES D’AUTEURS / AUTHORS PLACES OF INSPIRATION (Editions Palais, Paris, 2000), co-author
UNE PREMIERE FOIS, co-author with Gabriella Wright, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 2004

(Go here for more detailed information on the books and also translations in other languages)

THEATRE

WAITING FOR BECKETT BY GODOT, staged in Delhi 1976.
HASSAN’S DREAMS, a partial adaptation and translation of A Thousand and One     Nights. Performed in Norway, France in 1993.

FILMS

DOCUMENTARIES

SHADI LAL, A MYSTIC CHEF, 1986 (Shadi Lal, Le cuisinier chef mystique)
CHAMI and ANA - MAN AND ELEPHANT, 1990 (L'Homme et l'Elephant)
INDIA BY SONG, 2010

FEATURE FILMS

JAYA GANGA (Jaya, Fille du Gange) 1996
ONE DOLLAR CURRY, 2004   


SCREENPLAYS 

JAYA GANGA
ONE DOLLAR CURRY
WHIRLPOOL OF SHADOWS
ANOUCHKA, 2008, in development
BHOPALI, a screenplay written with Biyyala Rao, 2004

Contributions to Screenplays :

INDIAN NOCTURNE, a film by Alain Corneau, translation-adaptation of the dialogue
   

JOURNALISM 

France

Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, Libération, Le Nouvel Observateur, L'Evénement du Jeudi,  La Quinzaine Littéraire, Le Point,  Actuel…

UK

The Guardian, Pen International

India

The Times of India, Indian Express, India Today
© Copyright Vijay Singh