MUMBAI: Hindi fiction writer Amit Khan is on cloud nine lately. His bestseller book, Bicchoo Ka Khel, written over 30 years ago and unavailable in the market right now, has been made into a web series produced by Ekta Kapoor, and the show is doing quite well. So much so, Khan informs, there are plans for reprint of the book and an audiobook version as well.

"This is the age of marketing and as a writer, the web series is giving publicity to my book, which makes me very happy. These screen adaptations attract the viewers towards reading the original book, which is very good. Right now, my book Bicchoo Ka Khel is not available in the market, but readers are demanding it. So, we are planning to publish it as soon as possible. It is also coming in audiobook format," Amit Khan told IANS.

How satisfied is he with the screen adaptation? "There are the changes (in the web series), no doubt. This novel was written 30 years ago, so they have made the adaptation keeping the present time in mind. The story has also been altered a little but nothing has been done without informing me. It is a good adaptation, I'm happy," he said.

He added: "I'd like to thank Ekta Kapoor for giving me due credit and publicity, which writers often allege that they don't get," the author said.

With web shows on digital platforms, television and other forms of entertainment taking up a major share of our free time, the enthusiasm towards reading books seems to be declining, especially among the younger generation.

Talking about the trend, the author expressed: "I've had over a 100 books of mine published, but I have never done any marketing for my books. Earlier my books would go straight to the book stall after being published. Despite that, there are books of mine that have sold over one lakh copies. Things are changing now and readership has reduced. But if more films and web shows are made from books, I am hopeful that it will attract people towards reading the original book."

The web series Bicchoo Ka Khel stars Divyenndu Sharma and the author is all praise for the actor. "Divyenndu is a great actor and a very good human being. He is very down to earth, which is very different from his screen image in the web series. When I met him for the first time, he had told me that he agreed to do the web series because he was so intrigued after hearing the book's title!"

Amit Khan is currently gearing up for his next novel, a supernatural romantic story titled, Laut Aayi Chhaya. The writer informed that while the book has not yet been published, the web series rights are already sold!