Gupta, however, missed the deal as the rights of the book were already sold to British-Irish filmmaker Danny Boyle, who made the Oscar-nominated rags-to-riches drama “Slumdog Millionaire” on the same.

“I missed the film by a hair’s breadth. I had read the book in 2005 and wanted to make a film on it and I wanted Homi Adjania to direct it,” he said in a release here.

“We had met Vikas Swarup. But, unfortunately the rights of the film were already sold to Danny Boyle,” he added.

The “Kaante” director also revealed that he could not make the film because “we did not have the kind of support Fox Searchlight gave to Danny Boyle”.

Gupta, however, admitted that the film would not have got the kind of international recognition it received if he had made the film.

Contactmusic.com reports that Shah Rukh, who was earlier offered the role of the quizmaster in the film, played by Anil Kapoor, has defended the film.

Shah Rukh said: “I think it’’s really nice that the film will open doors for people to understand that there is a lot of visual appeal to India.

“I hear a lot of people saying that India has been shown in bad light. But then my logic to everyone is that why is it that somebody comes from outside and makes a film like ”Gandhi” and ”Slumdog Millionaire” and it becomes internationally acceptable. All we can say about it is that it is showing India in a poor light.”

The multi award-winning film has repeatedly come under fire since its release, with campaigners in India slamming the movie’’s controversial title, claiming the use of the word ”dog” is insulting to those living in slums.

The filmmaker was also accused of under paying the Indian child artistes despite director Boyle vigorously denying the claims, insisting the studio paid to ensure the welfare of the actors.