New Delhi: In what is indeed a much needed film in the prevailing scenario on the Sino-Indian border, a Mumbai-based books-to film agency ‘The Story Ink’ has acquired the rights for Indian Army veteran Probal Dasgupta’s book ‘Watershed 1967: India’s Forgotten Victory over China’, which details the 1967 India-China face-off in Sikkim.
Dasgupta had served in the Gorkha Rifles regiment for a decade and this is his first book that was published in January 2020.
The book which has received praise from defence and strategic analysts is about India’s victory over China at Cho La and Nathu La areas alongside the India-China border in Sikkim. Indian and Chinese troops had quarrelled over the question of a fence at Nathu La, the strategic pass in Sikkim. Victory for the Indian troops that year had come five years after the 1962 Indo-China War in which India had lost.
A statement released by Juggernaut Books says Dasgupta’s narrative delves on how the 1967 battle became the reason why Beijing never waged another war against India. The book consists of extensive interviews with army officers and soldiers who were present during the clashes at Cho La and Nathu La.
The statement also mentions praises for the book including by former Pakistani ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, who has said: “Sheds light on little-known facts…vignettes of intrigue playing out like moves on a chessboard…make Probal Dasgupta’s book critical for anyone following the India–China competition.”
Retired Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam has similarly praised the book, saying, “Meticulously researched…Probal Dasgupta is a gifted story-teller with a real feel for battle.”
This is one of the several projects on which ‘The Story Ink’ has partnered with Vikram Lamba of Bion Films (Los Angeles), who produced The Kid in 2019 starring Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke, as well as Ravi Walia who produced Bhopal starring Martin Sheen, Kal Penn and Mischa Barton.
Juggernaut Books’ statement also quotes Sidharth Jain, chief storyteller at The Story Ink, as saying, “This is a terrific, well researched account by Probal that must be told to not only Indian, but global audiences. We are currently in talks to collaborate with leading filmmakers and OTT platforms, and a formal announcement will follow shortly.”
The Story Ink was founded by Jain in 2018. The firm has handled at least 100 books-into-screen adaptation deals in the last 24 months.
