Controversies get people thinking: Dan Brown

The movie adaptation of Dan Brown's novel 'Angels & Demons' might have run into trouble with religious organisations but the best selling author of 'The Da Vinci Code' believes that a "controversy gets people thinking".

Angels & Demons has been directed by A Beautiful Mind fame Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. The film, which is a prequel to The Da Vinci Code, is being released in India by Sony Pictures on May 15.

"I'm still surprised The Da Vinci Code became as controversial as it was. Sure, there will be plenty of controversy around Angels & Demons, but I don't see that as a bad thing. Controversy gets people thinking," Brown said from Los Angeles.

The Vatican had banned the shooting of the film inside its churches. The Catholics in India have also demanded a ban on the film saying it "confuses fiction with truth".

Brown has just finished writing his fifth novel 'The Lost Symbol', which will be published on September 15.

The controversial author, who has already watched the movie adaptation of Angels & Demons, considers it better than The Da Vinci Code.

"It's fantastic. Angels & Demons is a much more cinematic novel than The Da Vinci Code, and this fundamental difference really shows through on film. Angels & Demons is, at its core, a race against a ticking time bomb, so the story already has built in pace.

"What Ron has done so cleverly in his film version is to compress and accelerate that pace. The result is two hours of smart, fast fun," said Brown giving his go ahead to the film.

When it comes to his books being adapted into films, Brown said he had complete faith in filmmaker Ron Howard.

"I'm not the kind of guy who is going to tell Ron Howard how to make a movie. I have enormous faith in his team. These are bright, engaged people who understand storytelling as well as any movie-makers out there," said the author.

Brown, however, has no desire to get involved in screenwriting.

"I've written a few screenplays, primarily as exercises to better understand the craft, but I would never presume to call myself a screenwriter. Novel writing and screenwriting are two very different beasts with very diverse skill sets," said Brown.

He believes that screenwriter David Koepp has done a remarkable job in adapting the novel for the film.

"David has a superb sense of timing and he really seems to understand the academic core of Langdon's character," the author added.

Oscar-winning Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks returns to the big screen as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in the prequel and Brown believes that the 58-year-old actor is perfect in the role.

"Tom is a world-class actor, and his character has evolved into a very dynamic, proactive, and heroic figure, making Tom particularly fun to watch in this role," said the author.