Rushdie Hounds Slumdog

(Photo: Splash News Online) Mumbai-born author Salman Rushdie -- author of the The Satanic Verses, which famously earned him a death threat from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988 -- isn't buying into Slumdog Millionaire.

Adapted from the book Q & A by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup, the tale centers on a poor Mumbai boy who succeeds on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

"This is a patently ridiculous conceit," 61 year-old Rushdie wrote in UK's Guardian newspaper. "The kind of fantasy writing that gives fantasy writing a bad name.

"It is a plot device faithfully preserved by the filmmakers," noted Rushdie, referring to the original novel's "corny" perspective, "and lies at the heart of the weirdly renamed Slumdog Millionaire."

"We can only hope that the worst is over, and that better movies, better musicals and better times lie ahead."