Author Vikram Chandra

The latest intercontinental "it" book out of India hits America this month with the 900-plus pages of Vikram Chandra's big novel "Sacred Games." Harper Collins won the US bidding war with a million-dollar advance on a sprawling saga of life and death in the underworld of Mumbai — Bombay. A police inspector and a maximum gangster square off on apocalypse and the meaning of life.

Critics say "Sacred Games" is where "Crime and Punishment" meets "The Godfather," with "The Sopranos" irony and a Bollywood beat. Vikram Chandra should know. His life these days is half Mumbai, half California and all about "the book."

This hour On Point: Indian novelist Vikram Chandra on the two-culture life and "Sacred Games."

Music Featured on the Show:

Destroyed in Love (Lounge Mix) - Various Artists, Soundtrack to the movie "Fanaa"

Crazy Remix - Sunidhi Chauhan, Soundtrack to the movie "Dhoom 2"

Salaam-E-Ishq - Various Artists, Soundtrack to the movie "Salaam- E-Ishq"

Tu Kanaan Ye Bata - Mohd. Rafi and Dev Anand, music from the film "Tere Ghar Ke Samne"

Chaiyya Chaiyya -Sukhwinder Singh and Sapana Awasthi, Soundtrack to the movie "Dil Se"

Guests:

Vikram Chandra, author of "Sacred Games" and "Love and Longing in Bombay."