Sonali Ghosh Sen’s debut novel ‘K-K-Krazy about Khan’ is all set to launch in Bangalore at Landmark (Forum Mall) on December 14. We caught up with author ahead of the book launch.
Kolkata-based author Sonali Ghosh Sen is a freelance writer, who in her other avatars has been a copywriter, teacher, creative director for a web-portal and a film critic. Her debut novel K-K-Krazy about Khan tells the tale of Kriti, a young urban girl, who is enamoured by Shah Rukh Khan. She is so deeply fascinated by his dimpled-lover boy image that worshipping her hero becomes her parallel profession. Her best friends, Amrita and Rhea, find it too far-fetched when Kriti invariably ends up likening every situation in her life to the twists and turns of a Shah Rukh movie. Adding to this saga of obsession, are her hilarious misadventures that constantly leave her in waters way above her head.
There’s also this handsome stranger who keeps walking in unscripted into her life, and makes her wish for well, things that even she can’t define. Will Kriti be able to survive this confusion? Will her friends and the city of Delhi be able to survive Kriti’s antics? Will Shah Rukh be able survive the onslaught on his No. 1 position? In an interview with MyBangalore.com, Sonali talks about the book, provides insight into the world of publishing and more.
MyBangalore.com: What is the novel ‘K.k.krazy about Khan’ about?
It is a witty, quirky, coming of age tale of a girl obsessed with Shah Rukh Khan. It takes us through a year in her life where she moves from one hilarious misadventure to another, until she learns some home truths about, love, life and Shah Rukh. This romantic comedy of errors reflects the mood and feel of a young, urban, modern India. With a mix of films, popular culture and a breezy narrative, this novel can be positioned as the first ever ‘fan fiction’ about a Bollywood icon.
What inspired you to write the book?
My love for the movies. I love the grammar of commercial Hindi cinema- the suspension of disbelief, the exaggerated situations, the almost amplified emotions of love, honour and duty. All this led me to the novel. Plus, I love humour and romance, so basically like all writers I was writing about “something I knew about.” Moreover, everyone in India is obsessed with the movies, and Bollywood stars. And when you are writing about a girl who’s in love with a movie star, you can’t get bigger than the king of Romance, Shah Rukh Khan. This was the starting point of the book.
Seeing real life fans of SRK up close and reading about fans, like the lady who buys him land on Mars every year, or the one who hasn’t opened a biscuit packet for 5 years because it has SRK’s face on it, or even the fact that DDLJ has been running at Maratha Mandir for the last 15 years were the trigger to create my completely over-the-top, Fan No. 1-Kriti Kapoor.
Is there something common between you and the lead character of the book?
Love for Hindi movies and a job in an advertising agency (though not the way it’s portrayed in the book) is what I share with Kriti. Otherwise, she is NOT AT ALL LIKE me in real life. I guess this is also the reason why I was able to complete the novel. Since Kriti really is just a figment of my imagination I didn’t have to deal with all that emotional baggage that comes with a character when it’s autobiographical. The final product was a great relief to my colleagues, friends and family, when they didn’t see themselves in any of the characters!
Would you like to see your book on celluloid? If so, who would you like to play the role of Kriti?
My intention was to write a book that was ‘filmi’, so it wasn’t written consciously as something that could be adapted to celluloid – thereby creating a Catch 22 situation. But, if at some stage it is turned into a movie script, I won’t be complaining either. To play the role of Kriti, well it would perhaps be someone like Lisa Kudrow - the way she played ‘Phoebe’ in the TV serial Friends.
What has been the reaction of your friends and family to your book?
From “funniest since Wodehouse” (my cousin who was being kind) to “I’d read it on a long train journey” to “oh my God! You actually finished the novel!” I have heard it all. Seriously, they are all very proud of me, which of course just goes to show I have the best family and friends in the world.
When did you switch your career, from a journalist to a novelist?
I really haven’t. I still write articles and film reviews and still take up the occasional advertising assignment.
You are one of the younger generation of Indian writers who has no qualms about marketing their books. What is your take on it?
Well, there are about 40 books being released every week and your novel has to compete with hundreds of other books on the bookshelf, so in such a scenario, marketing is very important, if for nothing else, then just to get your book noticed.
Was it a struggle to get published? Do you think publishers’ attitude towards Indian authors has changed over the years?
Well, I got rejected by a few publishers, but an equal number of publishers were interested in it. So, it wasn’t too much of a struggle to get published. Publisher’s attitudes have definitely changed over the years. Now Indian writing is no longer about “the NRI experience”, it doesn’t have a colonial hangover, or is even about “exotica”. There are writers who write about urban Indian experiences - the campus novel describing the growing up experience, the MBA novel about corporate skulduggery, the ‘being single’ in the city novel, or even novels dealing with Indian mythology or history. There is this wide range of subjects that practically every reader can identify with and this is certainly being encouraged by the Publishers.
What kind of books do you like to read?
Anything and everything – fiction, biographies, travelogues, Comics…everything other than cook books. I am a terrible cook.
What other genres would you like to explore?
Fiction Noir.
What are your plans for the future? Is another book in the works?
No plans for the future. I live for the momentJ. I do have a lot of ideas for a new book, but nothing concrete yet.
Quick Q’s
Who are your favourite authors?
Some of my favourites: J.R.R Tolkien, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, John Le Carre’, P.G.Wodehouse, Sue Townsend, Graham Greene, Sukumar Ray, Ruskin Bond, Goscinny and Uderzo.
Give us a list of your must-reads
My list changes every 6 months, so here are a few of my must-reads for this year: Notes from a small Island, Hitchcock /Truffaut, Smiley’s People, Red , The Uncommon Reader.
What’s your favourite holiday destination?
Paris, Berlin and Florence in Europe; Hong Kong in Asia and anywhere in Rajasthan in India.
What do you do to relax and chill out?
Travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment