POWER OF WORDS: Colin Firth in The King’s Speech; Firth and Geoffrey Rush on the cover of the book

The Oscar quadruple by The King’s Speech may have set tongues wagging about the tale of the tongue-tied King George VI and his maverick speech therapist, but one will have to wait till March 4 to catch Colin Firth pucker up and practise “to be or not to be”. Till then, one can pore over The King’s Speech, the book.

Written by Mark Logue, the grandson of King George VI’s speech therapist Lionel Logue, and journalist Peter Conradi, the book — with the tag line How One Man Saved The British Monarchy — is now selling faster than you can say “by George!”. Published by Quercus and distributed by Penguin in India, this is a rare example of a film inspiring a book. Logue was approached by the film’s producer Iain Canning in June 2009 for historical accuracy. Thus began the grandson’s journey into the life and work of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) and his close relationship with the Duke of York (Firth), whom we know as the last monarch of India and the father of the present Queen. The book draws from Logue’s unpublished personal diaries.

Starmark, which received the first lot of the books in December, is sold out. “The book is doing well and its sales will soar after the Oscar win. We are awaiting fresh stocks and have doubled our order,” said Gautam Jatia of Starmark. Sidharth Pansari of Crossword is predicting a big leap in sales while placing “enhanced orders” for the book, which is priced at Rs 499.

Even as the book flies off the shelves, enquiries about the film’s release are pouring in at the theatres. “Since Monday morning, there have been a lot of enquiries about The King’s Speech. The Oscars have put a stamp on the film and now cinegoers can’t wait to catch it. We expect high footfall at least for the first week, “ said Virendra Marya, the regional director of INOX.

The two Fame multiplexes in the city are also banking on the winner of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday to get in the much-needed footfalls in a dry Bolly season, thanks to the World Cup. “The buzz around Slumdog Millionaire increased by leaps and bounds after it bagged all those Oscars two years ago. The King’s Speech seems to be treading that path,” said a Fame official.

The film’s tryst with the golden lady has ensured that The King’s Speech will now release with “at least four shows” at each city multiplex this weekend, a rarity for a Hollywood film in Calcutta. “We were initially looking at having two or three shows for the film in each plex. But now we will opt for four shows. We are certain that The King’s Speech will find a lot of takers,” said Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films, the film’s eastern India distributors.

But what’s taken The King’s Speech so long to release in India, more than two months after the rest of the world has seen it?

“Unlike other big films, The King’s Speech has not been picked up by a big distribution company and it is now left to an independent distributor to release the film across India,” said Soni. Also, most plexes feel that a Holly film finds very few takers in Calcutta, unless accompanied with an Oscar tag.

“Most English films come and go within a week. Unless it is an Oscar winner or in the race for the Oscars,” reveals a plex official.

Case in point: Both The Fighter and True Grit — which lost out to The King’s Speech — have been doing brisk business since their release last Friday.

“I loved The Social Network and if it has beaten that film then The King’s Speech has to be extraordinary. Plus, Colin Firth is a sight for sore eyes,” said college goer Riddhi Biswas.

And if the film, which focuses on a brief period — from the first meeting of Lionel and the future King to the outbreak of World War II in 1939 — leaves you wanting more, you can always turn to the book, which tells the complete story of Lionel, right from his childhood in Adelaide to his death.