Engrossing as its narrative is, Keigo Higashino’s Japanese mystery novel The Devotion of Suspect X has inspired four cinematic adaptations—the 2008 Japanese movie, Suspect X, the south Korean edition, Perfect Number, that followed two years later, the 2019 Tamil offering, Kolaigaran, and the Chinese version. Even as an English adaptation is expected to be underway, film aficionados will be able to enjoy the Hindi version, Jaane Jaan, this month. 

Producer Jay Shewakramani couldn’t put his faith in anyone other than Sujoy Ghosh when it came to adapting the story for an Indian setting. “The beauty of this narrative is that, inherently, it is a love story. Emotions are universal. Sujoy [Ghosh] adapted it to be based in the mysterious town of Kalimpong. Pick any Sujoy-film, and you’ll see how easily he roots his characters in the local setting. For instance, [his previous film] Badla was adapted from a Spanish movie, and was shot in Scotland. Even then, it was steeped in Indian values. He knows how to make a true-blue Indian story,” says Shewakramani.