The author of the much-acclaimed The Prayer and November Rain, and scripts of serials such as Banoo Main Teri Dulhan, and Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan produced by Aruna Irani, recently had a chat with Sandhya Divakaran.
Excerpts from the interview:
Why do you like the theme of the occult or the supernatural?
The supernatural, as a form of story, appeals much more to me, possibly since I have had supernatural experiences too. I attended a seance before November Rain happened. The experience affected me so much that I decided to write a book about it. They are really startling events.
What themes from life are being portrayed in today’s mini-screen?
There is a general demand for concepts that are home-based such as Banoo...Women between the age of 15-45 years are generally targeted. I have also written scripts for the serial called Rajni, that came in the early ‘90s which dealt with a very liberated woman with leadership qualities. And now we have soap operas that deal with situations of mothers and their daughters-in-law. November Rain was also made into a serial, which was produced by Aruna Irani. I believe there are varied concepts that are being used in serials in the present age.
But is there a shift towards high drama?
Yes, the demand is more for serials like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, for which I wrote the script for some time. I wouldn’t say it is backward or regressive but I would call it more of a ‘de-route’. The soap formula clicked during the time of satellite television, and dozens of serials were formulated out of the same theme.
This is not wrong but it is not very right either. If you ask me, the scripts I like to write are for ones which have a good plot or a story, in which the characters take the story forward. One should not build a story around a few designated characters.
What kind of story ideas can we see in the future?
There is scope for many, many concepts. People change with time. They get hooked onto one serial first, lose interest and move on to another. TV or the media, is a big business, it’s just a matter of looking at what interests people at the moment and expand in that direction. It is about a phase that people are in, at a point of time.
What are your future projects?
The second book that my husband and myself co-authored, has been taken up by a Hollywood producer, somebody who is known for films on the supernatural. We are also concentrating on our latest venture — our publishing house, Undercover Utopia. Also we are bringing out a new book titled Till Now, which is based on friendship of two individuals from the caveman stage. This is against the backdrop of the history of mankind. It will be a 99-page book which tells about the progress of mankind through the eyes of these two characters.
Tell us about your publishing house.
Undercover Utopia caters to all kinds of writers. We don’t accept only some kind of stories. The problem in India is that we don’t have authors like a Jeffrey Archer or a John Grisham. We are trying to find similar Indian authors. We want to publish books that are entertaining. In addition to the name of the publishing house our byline says “Life is a story”.
This is because we believe in changing scenarios, and nowadays there are so many people with such creative ideas and great imagination. We want to encourage such writers, especially the ones with great ideas, but do not know how to go about translating the idea into a whole book. The latest book that we published was by Anil Goel called Release 2.0: The Bangalore Imperative. It has an exciting plot on software and espionage, which I’m sure anyone will find interesting.
