Vijay Singh is an Indian filmmaker, screenplay-writer and novelist living in Paris.

After studying History at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he moved to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, for his doctoral work.

From the early eighties, he started writing extensively for Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, Libération, The Guardian, and several other international newspapers and magazines.

Over the last two decades, he has written and directed four internationally acclaimed films. Jaya Ganga (Jaya, fille du Gange), his widely-reviewed first feature, ran for 49 weeks in the Paris cinemas, before repeating a similar story in the UK. The Guardian described it as “a mesmerising film… one of the most authentic depictions of everyday Indian magic ever screened.”

Vijay Singh’s second feature film, One Dollar Curry, was released in India, France and the UK. Reviewing One Dollar Curry, BBC Movies commented: “Infinitely more subtle than the spate of recent British diaspora pictures, this likeably low-key gem effortlessly combines European and Bollywood influences, without lapsing into cliche or caricature.”

 His film India By Song, released in 2010, was received enthusiastically by theatrical and television audiences worldwide.

Vijay Singh is also the writer-director of the documentaries Shadi Lal, le cuisinier chef mystique and  Chami and Ana the Elephant (Man and Elephant / L’Homme et l’éléphant), which has been shown on nearly 100 television channels worldwide.

Before stepping into the world of cinema, Vijay Singh had published several books that won wide critical acclaim: Jaya Ganga, In Search Of the River Goddess (Penguin 1989; Rupa 2005), Jaya Ganga, le Gange et son Double (Ramsay 1985; Ginkgo éditeur 2005), La Nuit Poignardée (Flammarion 1987), Whirlpool of Shadows (Jonathan Cape, 1992; Ramsay 1992; Rupa 2005), a children’s book, The River Goddess (Moonlight 1994), La déesse qui devint fleuve (Gallimard Jeunesse 1993), and the latest, Gange, fleuve et déesse (Editions de la Flandonnière 2014; Photographs by Jacques Raymond).

His books have been translated into French and other European languages.

Vijay Singh’s films have been nominated for Best Film awards at several renowned festivals. Chami and Ana the Elephant  (Man and Elephant/L’Homme et L’éléphant) was awarded Le Grand Prix des Enfants ‘La Titine 2002’ in Switzerland. India by Song won the River to River Digital Audience award for Best Documentary in Florence, Italy 2010. 

Vijay Singh is the recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Award in 1994 for screenplay writing, and the Prix Villa Medicis hors les murs for foreign literature in 1990.

For a complete list of Vijay Singh’s works, please click on www.vijaysingh.net  

https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijay_Singh_(writer_and_filmmaker)

https: //fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijay_Singh_(écrivain)