'Six Suspects' an adaptation of Vikas Swarup's ' whodunit' will be starred by Amitabh Bachchan among others. He might just become one of the six suspects in the movie. Scripted by John Hodge of 'Train spotting', and 'Shallow Grave' fame, and co-produced by Paul Raphael and BBC Films, 'Six Suspects' will be helmed by Argentinean director, Pablo Trapero.

When quizzed about Bachchan's casting, all Swarup knows is that back in November, Raphael had come down to India and met a number of people, including Big B.

"But I have no idea if Mr Bachchan is doing the film. The project's been stuck for a while. The delay is probably due to funds. There might be date issues as well. They were to start shooting in India in January or February. But that's not happening. May be they have decided to push the shoot post monsoon because of the elections. The story unfolds in Delhi and Mumbai and unless the Indian government refuses them permission, I don't see them filming in another country," Swarup elaborated.

From what he has seen in the drafts, Swarup is happy that the screenplay is quite faithful to his novel which revolves around the murder of a bartender in an upscale restaurant. The parallel to the Jessica Lall murder case is not veiled, but Swarup throws in a twist when the man who shoots her is himself murdered. at a party he throws.

Quizzed on whether he has any actors in mind to play the six suspects, he said, "The canvas is very vast and teeming with characters. We'd be looking at an ensemble cast since the six suspects range from a Bollywood actress, a mobile phone thief and a corrupt bureaucrat to an American tourist, an ambitious politician and a Andamans islander on a quest to recover a sacred stone. Once the final screenplay is locked we can look at the casting."

'Six Suspects' is Swarup's second book to be made into a film. His debut book titled 'Q&A' was adapted into Oscar-winning film ' Slumdog Millionaire' by Danny Boyle.

Meanwhile, Sriram Raghavan is feverishly working on adapting Swarup's third novel, 'The Accidental Apprentice'.

Said Swarup, "He had expected to finish the screenplay by the end of 2013 but it got stretched. I'm hoping to read it by February."