When Bollywood Inspires Chick Lit

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

Bollywood-style romances, with songs and dances, and their own variation of the Hollywood rom-com cute meet, have found an audience globally. Recently I came across a chick-lit novel that has been inspired by Bollywood.

Written by Nicola Marsh, an Australian author who has penned 30 novels and sold 3 million copies, Busted in Bollywood is one of her most recent books. It is a fun romantic comedy set partly in Mumbai, home of Bollywood industry, and New York. Featuring a multinational cast of characters, Nicola builds the romantic tension as well as gives an insight into Indian cultural nuances on dating, marriage, and food. The story is about Shari Jones, an Indo-American girl, who agrees to her best friend Amrita’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. The fun begins once she lands in Mumbai, is mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé. The secondary characters such as the loud Indian aunt, Anjali, are enjoyable and would resonate with Indians who are likely to have a relative or two like her. Even though Nicola uses some stereotypes – including the mandatory Indian fortune teller – she does so without turning it into a cliched situation.

Films such as Bride & Prejudice and Monsoon Wedding have dived into the Bollywood culture and there have been some chick-lit novels that are set in Bollywood. But Nicola does a more “global” turn with her book. She presents Bollywood and Indian culture in a fun-filled, easy-to-relate-to romantic package that keeps the reader turning the pages. The ending, with its dramatic Bollywood tone, is a fitting climax to a story of colliding cultures and romantic alliances. This one has all the necessary ingredients for a Bollywood-meets-Hollywood rom-com or a pure Bollywood romance complete with the colourful song and dances.

Here’s a short interview with the author, Nicola Marsh.

What inspired you to write a rom-com set in Bollywood? Are you familiar with Bollywood films?

My dad watches Bollywood films almost daily and he got me hooked on them a few years ago. I loved the colour, drama, romance, music and all-round vibrancy, and thought I’d love to capture some of that in a book.

What has been the response to your book? Are readers interested in knowing more about India and/or Bollywood?

Luckily, readers have loved the book (with many warning not to read on an empty stomach because you’ll be starving for delicious Indian food by the time you finish!) I think India holds a fascination for most people so being able to travel vicariously to this wonderful, mystical land has huge appeal.

I love the way you blend Indians’ love for films, food and fortune-telling into your story. And of course, you throw in arranged marriages too! Was it all based on ‘great research over the Internet’ or do you have a secret Indian fairy guiding you? LOL.

Oooh…the secret Indian fairy guide sounds great! Where can I find one? :) My parents were born and raised in India so I’ve been immersed in some of the culture (mainly the food!) from a young age. Then the Bollywood flicks came along and Busted in Bollywood shimmered into my imagination piece by piece. I interviewed Indian friends for some of the more traditional aspects of the book (eg. Hindu wedding, which I’d love to go to one day, any one want to invite me? Pretty please?) and used the Internet a lot!

Are you thinking of writing a sequel to this or maybe a Bollywood series?

I actually have a firm idea for Divya’s story in my head, but I’m now writing for Harlequin Mills and Boon, Entangled Publishing, Month9Books and Crimson Romance, so the time factor isn’t great. Hopefully one day!

If this were to be made into a movie — do you see it as a rom-com for Western audiences or a song-and-dance type Bollywood film?

I see Busted in Bollywood as a rom-com for Western audiences, along the lines of Bride and Prejudice, with its mixed cast. Then again, I wouldn’t complain if it were made into a Bollywood film either!

{For more about Nicola, check out her website: www.nicolamarsh.com}

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April Frenzy

Posted on May 6, 2012 by

April began at a frenetic pace. Writing-wise. While last April my writing partner, Caz Adams and I, had dived into ScriptFrenzy, with a new script, this year I took a different kind of writing journey. But it was no less frenetic.

It began with the plotting of my romance novel. Coming up with an outline and brainstorming it with my editor at Harlequin Mills & Boon was a new experience all together. And one that is as good as having a writing partner with whom you can brainstorm your ideas, clarify the sticking points and more. Working with an editor has helped me take my story in directions that I may have overlooked. The synopsis has grown and changed, as character motivations and plotlines have become clearer. Being a plot-driven person, I find it extremely hard to develop a synopsis/outline based on character motivations and emotional conflict alone. And my editor’s insights have opened a whole new way of looking at a story and working on the plot.

With a solid synopsis in place, May is Deadline Month. Yes, I have to submit my first three chapters. Looking forward to that with some trepidation and a lot of enthusiasm. Stay tuned!

(Image Courtesy: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2365)

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A Killer “Kahaani”!

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

It all comes down to Story. Or, kahaani. Also, the name of one of the latest thrillers to hit Indian screens. Smart and taut, layered and slick, Kahaani works on many levels. And, doesn’t on some.

First, why it works.

Genre Bender While it’s easy to categorize Kahaani as a thriller, actually it is a bit of a genre bender. It mixes elements of the mystery, thriller and revenge genres in a smartly told tale about a woman who takes on the system in a bid to find her husband who just seems to have disappeared from the face of Kolkata, a city that reeks of mystery and intrigue.

Plot or Character Driven? A thriller/mystery movie that is character-driven rather than one that relies on plot devices is a rare entity and Kahaani works so well only because of its large ensemble of believable minor characters. While Vidya Balan essays the role of the hugely-pregnant protagonist Vidya/Bidya with amazing alacrity, the other characters too are a treat to watch. Be it the rookie cop-and-ally Sarthaki/Rana, the technologically-challenged cop in the police station, the bhadralok-assassin Bob Biswas or the foul-mouthed Intelligence Bureau officer Khan, they add a fresh-and-edgy quality to Bollywood story telling.

City Portrait More interestingly, writer-director Sujoy Ghosh uses the city of Calcutta/Kolkata to enhance the mystery elements of the story. A woman looking for her husband in the mind-numbingly narrow lanes of a crumbling city adds to the intrigue and visual dynamics of the story. In fact, the use of the festival of Durga Puja as a plot device is a climactic coup in the film. And best of all, the quirky Bengali trait of using two names (a nick name–or daak naam and a formal name–or bhalo naam) is brilliantly built into the theme of the story.

So, what doesn’t work?

The background score at times is too jarring and doesn’t quite lend itself to the tone of the film. And there are a few story holes that could have been papered over more smoothly. But those are minor flaws in a film that tells a kahaani that is entertaining and gripping. And gives the thriller genre in Hindie films a much needed boost.

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It’s Official!

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

The results of the Mills & Boon contest are out! And — do you hear the drum roll? — yours truly has made it to the list of three winners! Yay!!!

So, thank you guys, for reading my stuff and voting (or not) for me. Really appreciate the feedback, comments, ‘likes’, support and encouragement.

Onward to a new writing adventure, and stay tuned for updates! Cheers!

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The (Writing) Ring Contest

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

Flashback. 1970s. Bombay. Mount Mary’s Fair. The crowds are out in full force. A carnival-like atmosphere prevails. Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds. Laughing mirrors and candy floss. Food stalls and merry-making crowds. As a kid, I always had a fascination for the toss-a-ring stall. An array of tempting prizes would be lined up — dolls, games, soap boxes (yeah, don’t ask me why!) little make-up kits, everything that a girl would fancy! With a bit of skill, some luck and loads of hope in your heart, you tossed the ring. Willing it to fall around the prize that you had set your heart on. Oh, the agonising wait as the ring flew through the air. Everything around you came to a stop. Except your wildly beating heart! And then….. Psssssssst! The ring missed its mark! Hope died. But you were still in denial. You tried a couple more times, hoping, always hoping. No matter how many rings were tossed, they never found their mark! Realization struck: Stupid game. Ring-toss contests suck. The rings are probably rigged so they never find their mark. And so on….

Until… Flash forward to present times! The Ring found its mark! Whoa! Was that me? You mean, I actually did it? The same Me who had no hope of ever ring-ing anything that was worth winning?

No, I haven’t lost it. Nor am I some kind of a psycho-nut that lurks in carnivals, tossing rings… Let me explain. Well, this is a different kind of toss-a-ring contest. A writing contest. But it felt so much like the ones of my long-lost childhood days. The principle was the same.

The Ring: A 1500-2000 word short love story.
The Prize: A chance to become a published Mills & Boon author.

So I sent off my writing ring in to cyber space, studding it with as much skill as I had in my arsenal. Waiting with fingers crossed for the ring to fall. And needless to say, it’s been an agonising wait. Checking and re-checking the website (www.millsandboonindia.com) for the “finalists” (five ring leaders, should I call them?) to be announced. And then, finally D-Day dawns. OMG. My Ring is up there among them! Woohoo!!! But wait, the new toss-a-ring contest has a cyber-twist. The finalist stories go up for voting. So this time, it’s multiple tosses of the rings by carnival visitors (read: website prowlers) and yet another… long, agonising wait, till the numbers are crunched up and the rings added up. The most-voted-for story goes into publication and its author wins the grand prize.

I am still waiting….and hoping…and biting my nails… Will the rings on my Story (Story #3) add up to make me the Queen of this Ring Contest? All I can see are multi-colored rings flying through cyber space….. you get the picture!

(Carnival Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono)

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Dhobi Ghat — The Heartbeat of Mumbai

Posted on March 4, 2012 by

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries), writer-director Kiran Rao’s debut outing, is as impressive as they come. The film – told in non-linear storytelling mode – revolves around four characters who live in Mumbai and how they connect with each other and the city. The central role is played by the teeming metropolis, Mumbai, which controls and shapes the lives and dreams of millions of people.

Seen through the prism of each character, the city acquires a shape-shifting quality that is evoked through moody visuals, an interplay of light and sound, snatches of music, black-and-white stills and paintings, the drumbeat of rain. The skillful use of these cinematic techniques adds texture to the film, and depth to each character’s otherwise wafer-thin storyline. Each character has his/her take on the city — Arun, the artist, and Shai, the New York-based investment banker refer to the city as Bombay or Munna, the dhobi (washerman) calls it Mumbai or even when he jokes that perhaps Shai misses the squalor of the city and that’s why she wants to capture it on camera! Or when the newly-married migrant to the city, Yasmin, comments that the rain in Mumbai is unlike rain anywhere else — incessant. Or when Arun says that Bombay is his “whore and muse”.

The city throbs like a heartbeat within each character. Not once does Rao let go of this tenuous, ever-present, under-the-surface connection between city and characters through the film. A special mention must be made about the beautiful background score, composed by the Argentine musician and composer Gustavo Santaolalla (of Brokeback Mountain, Babel and Amores Perros fame). It’s a salute to the Maximum City, done with panache, style and sensitivity.

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Guru McKee’s Hyderabad Story

Posted on February 14, 2012 by

Robert McKee in Hyderabad

Robert McKee — the “not-so-secret force” in Hollywood — was in Hyderabad to conduct his celebrated Story Seminar. For writers, particularly screenwriters, it was a not to be missed event to hear the guru and learn from him. But calling it a seminar would not be doing justice to an event that was extraordinary in its scope and depth. It was, not unlike the films that he analysed, one heck of an entertaining experience!

One that puts together his humungous knowledge of Hollywood and world cinema, the insights of a teacher, the passion of an evangelist, the charm and wit of a standup comic, the actor’s command of timing and dialogue delivery, and the salacious tidbits of an inveterate gossip! And like any good story, you laugh and learn, cringe and cry and come away feeling inspired and motivated.

According to McKee’s official profile: “About the only Hollywood notable not to have taken the Story Seminar is Steven Spielberg.” Spielberg’s loss rather than McKee’s! As McKee gleefully points out: “Spielberg has been using the ‘deus ex machina’ ever since Jurassic Park.” And in McKee’s lexicon, deus ex machina translates as the ultimate sin that any writer can commit! Continuing in his irreverent tone he lambasts Spielberg’s much-raved-about War Horse as a piece of work that “glorifies and romanticizes war”.

Here are some nuggets of advice from Hollywood’s premier screenwriting guru:

Write The Truth: That’s McKee’s exhortation to all writers. A writer’s goal must be to create a good story and tell it well. Cinema worldwide is facing a crisis and that, he says, is a result of writers who prefer to lie or hide behind facts instead of telling the Truth. And as he explains, facts are not the truth. Truth is the writer’s interpretation of the facts, one that he/she believes in and uses form, not formula, to create moments that are unforgettable, inspiring and universal. Writers who can do that are way above and beyond the competition. “Today, it’s a tsunami of shit!”

“Inception was like a video game…creating the rules of the world late into the movie. It’s complicated but not complex.” McKee explains that while “complicated” plots are the ones with extra-personal conflict at the heart of the story whereas complex ones are at the other end of the spectrum with conflict at the extra-personal, personal and inner levels.

The Character-Driven or Plot-Driven Debate is “nonsense”! Plot and Character are two sides of the same coin. And the reason why the argument continues is that writers can’t differentiate between characterization and true character. “Characterization is the sum total of her observable traits…” Attitudes, beliefs, behaviours that make them credible and unique. Characters are a result of “choices they make under pressure…they are who they really are under their mask of characterization”. As the story progresses, the goal is to “strip away the mask of characterization (and reveal) the heart and soul of the character”. Now, that puts to rest yet another raging debate: should characters have transformational arcs? When you peel off layers of characterization to reveal the real persona underneath, ‘transformation’ becomes redundant.

“Melodrama is the outcome of a character’s under-motivation. Or, a mismatch between the motivation and its expression or action.”

Writers, Take Pride in Your Work! The Writer is the Original Artist whereas the Director is the Interpretative Artist. If writers don’t write, films don’t get made, the industry shuts down! So, take pride in your work and believe that writers are the power that fuels the industry. Even the best directors in the world couldn’t rise beyond the script/material they had. “Alfred Hitchcock made a lot of bad films.” The difference was the script. While Vertigo made compelling viewing, his Family Plot was just a “bunch of cliches”.

“There is no Avant Garde cinema anymore. All we have is Retro Garde. They are imitating the Anti-Structure auteurs of the past and recycling tired works of the past.”

McKee believes that there is no “formula” to writing, only a “form”. Thus, there can be no rules but one: DON’T BORE THE PEOPLE! A rule that he NEVER breaks in his Story Seminar!

For more on McKee’s Commandments, here is an article that I wrote for The Hindu BusinessLine:

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Writing about what you don’t know!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

Screenwriting gurus exhort writers to write “what you know”. It’s perfectly good advice. Your work will be authentic, you can rely on your experience to tell a more nuanced story, you will save precious hours of research and you will (hopefully) connect with your audience. It does make life a lot easier for the writer. So, if a writer who has some first hand experience of large corporations were to write a story that is set in the world of high-finance, she would be within her comfort zone and would be able to tell a compelling story.

Another piece of advice that is often given to writers is: enjoy the process of writing. Makes sense. After all you are writing a movie that hopefully will be watched by millions (or at least a few hundreds!) of people and if you don’t enjoy writing it, how can you expect them to have the time of their lives (especially if it’s an action-adventure-slash-comedy-slash-thriller)?

Now put these two pieces of advice together and there is a problem. At least, I have one! I want to explore new worlds, and live vicariously through the roller-coaster emotions of my characters. And while I would be able to create a perfectly good (and believable) story set in a world that I am familiar with, it wouldn’t be an exciting enough writing process for me. Besides, if screenwriters only wrote what they “knew”, Star Trek would perhaps never been made. Or perhaps, an alien collaborated on that project? ;)

So when I came across Simon Beaufoy’s article in The Guardian, I was pleasantly surprised to note that a screenwriter of Beaufoy’s caliber prescribes to my “write what you don’t know” philosophy. This is what he says about his experience of writing Slumdog Millionaire:

“India is desperately romantic, utterly unashamed of its sentimentality, its generosity, its fierce pride and massive heart. And of all things, only love can overwhelm the seductive narrative of money that threatens to swamp the story. The euphoria of this discovery is soon replaced by the frightening realisation that I will have to reinvent the whole journey of the central character, Jamal the slumdog. I will also have to create the love of his life, Latika, and make their love story, not the quiz show, the real crux of the film. But what does a middle-class white Englishman know of a Mumbai slumdweller’s life story? Not much.

I decide that the only way to do this with any authenticity is to return to my documentary roots. Whereas screenwriters are always being told “write about what you know”, documentary makers prefer to dig, investigate, deliberately court exactly what they don’t know. For me, it is the best way to work. Where’s the fun in writing about what you know, when you can instead dive headlong into the new, the exotic, the utterly unknown?”

His last sentence resonates with me. Big time! And that inspires me to create stories set in worlds that I may not be familiar with but am fascinated about. Now, if only I could do that with as much skill as Simon Beaufoy does!

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The Iconic Dev Anand and his Classic ‘Guide’

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

Dev Anand

Dev Anand, one of the most charismatic actors of Indian films passed away last year at the age of 88. In a career spanning almost 65 years, he acted in 125 films and directed 36. Dubbed “the evergreen hero”, Dev Anand did not believe in hanging up his filmmaking boots and continued to make films virtually till the day he died. As his nephew, Shekhar Kapur, also one of India’s most celebrated directors having made his mark in world cinema with his Elizabeth (1998), tweeted: “Dev Anand lived and died on his own terms. He was working one minute. Sat down and smiled. And was gone the next minute.”

Dev Anand began his career in the early 1950s and competed with two other iconic actors of Indian cinema, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, for the hearts and minds of the Indian audiences. While Raj Kapoor epitomized the underdog in his films, and had a Chaplinesque quality in the way he portrayed his characters, Dilip Kumar was the thespian who excelled at epic sagas of love and betrayal. Dev Anand, in contrast, with his Westernized mannerisms and resemblance to Gregory Peck was the charming lover boy of Indian films. But it wouldn’t be right to classify him as a stereotypical lover boy. In many of his films, he essayed the role of the anti-hero, and his characters often had a moral edginess to them that was quite novel for the times in which these movies were made.

To quote Namrata Joshi, film critic:

The dark, noir feel of the films added to the shadowy characters he played. Be it Taxi Driver (1954), where he is a cabbie who gets involved with criminals who steal his cab for a robbery, or House No. 44 (1955), where he is a pickpocket-turned-police informant. The get-up, easy swagger and cool attitude added to the persona. As did the smoke of the innumerable cigarettes in film after film. In his world, there is moodiness and atmosphere and certain prominent motifs. Like the grungy gambling dens with bar girls seducing, singing and dancing with abandon. And often falling in love with him.

But perhaps the film that Dev Anand will always be remembered for is Guide. (1965). The story was based on celebrated author R.K. Narayanan’s book and is considered to be a classic. It tells the tale of a tourist guide, Raju, whose love for Rosie, a woman married to a philanderer, encourages her to leave her husband and renew her passion for dancing. Raju helps Rosie resurrect her career as a dancer. Raju’s life spins out of control when he betrays Rosie and gives into greed and turns to crime. The arc is completed with Raju’s redemption, that ends with self-sacrifice. Apart from the epic scale of the film, the musical score was arguably the best ever composed by Sachin Dev Burman. To date, the songs remain a favourite with Indians of all ages.

Ironically, while the film is today called a ‘classic’, when it was first released, it drew immense flak from critics and audiences for dealing with the controversial (and taboo) subject of adultery. Dev Anand wrote in his autobiography, Romancing with Life:

“The results at the box office were mixed to start with. Days passed into weeks, and weeks into months, and Guide started being talked about as no other film was. Though not much money in terms of hard cash flowed in, the film kept sending gold to the coffers of our jubilant minds, in terms of recognition of our artistic achievement. As time passed, people found more and more meaning in it, and enjoyed seeing it again and again. I have met people who have seen Guide thirty times or more and still want to see it again. It was declared an all-time classic, for all ages and all eras.”

Guide even had an English version, titled Survival for Western audiences, for which renowned author Pearl S. Buck wrote the screenplay. It was directed by Tad Danielewski. The movie bombed in the US and didn’t do much for Dev Anand’s Hollywood career.

What makes the behind-the-scenes story of Guide so interesting is that despite the huge financial risks involved Dev Anand went ahead to make the film, through his own home production, Navketan Films. He wrote:

“Taking risks can at times be dangerous. But they are worth taking nevertheless, for without risks, there can never be any extraordinary achievement.”

What if Dev Anand had played safe, stayed on the beaten track, refused to make Guide for fear of its so-called “bold” subject being rejected by audiences or for avoiding financial risk? We would have been deprived of one of the best films that Indian cinema has had to offer. Food for thought for many filmmakers today who seek safe creative paths, on the pretext of “catering to audience tastes”.

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Bollywood 2011: An Eclectic Mix

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

Looking back at the Bollywood offerings of 2011, it would seem that no-brainer blockbusters have dominated at the box-office. Whether it’s the Salman Khan starrers, Ready and Bodyguard, Shah Rukh Khan’s sci-fi- romance mash-up, Ra.One, or Ajay Devgn’s brawn-and-bluster, Singham, the masala movies have ruled. However, the Hindie films haven’t had a bad showing either. Films like No One Killed Jessica, The Girl in Yellow Boots, or Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster, have attracted niche audiences at the multiplexes without much difficulty.

One of the surprise hits of the year has been Zindagi Na Miley Dobara. Though it does have all the ingredients of a typical Bollywood romance, it smartly avoids the clichés of a mainstream love story. It has the style of a new-age Hindie film with the heart of a Bollywood romance. Best of both worlds. Director Zoya Akhtar, the daughter of Bollywood’s superstar-screenwriter and lyricist, Javed Akhtar, has made a bromance that avoids the macho stereotypes of the genre while infusing it with the lost lyricism of old-style Hindi romances, where poetry conveys moods and emotions as much as the actors on the screen. Shot in picturesque Spain, Zoya has used the locations to move the story forward, instead of using them as props for a song and dance routine. Boasting of A-list actors such as Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, with ZNMD, Zoya has elevated herself to the A-list directors’ list. Along with Farah Khan, she is the second woman director to break the glass ceiling in Bollywood. Way to go, ladies!

2011 ended on a high note with the success of The Dirty Picture, inspired by the life and times of 1980’s B-movie actress, Silk Smitha. Like ZNMD, The Dirty Picture (TDP), straddles both mainstream and Hindie Bollywood with ease. The presence of an A-list actor like Vidya Balan playing the role of a starlet who never quite made it in the big league in Bollywood is itself a delicious irony. With its mix of tacky, raunchy numbers (a la the retro hits of Bollywood films of the 1980’s), sassy dialogues and smart marketing, TDP is perhaps among the fistful of Indian films that managed to rake in the moolah without the presence of an A-list male actor! In fact, TDP breaks new ground in Bollywood filmmaking – it’s mid-way between a spoof and a bio-pic. Retro-bio-pic? Perhaps! In 2010, TDP’s director Milan Luthria, wowed audiences with his Once upon a time in Mumbai. That film too had a retro-angle to it and was somewhat derived from real life characters: set in Mumbai of the 1970’s, Luthria’s tale of gangsters and wannabe starlets had both audiences and critics raving about it.

And then, there was yet another film: low-budget, gritty, truly Hindie! Titled Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster (SBAG) this was a re-telling of the classic 1950s Guru Dutt film (Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam). Whether the 2011 film will be hailed as a classic in the future, remains to be seen. But for now, it’s an Ace of a film that tells a gritty story of modern, small-town India. The Saheb (King) is a down-and-out former royal of an erstwhile principality who strives to find his footing in the murky politics of his town, regain his status as the benefactor of his little boondock and maintain a mistress in keeping with tradition. His Biwi (Queen) is a neglected, sexually-frustrated woman whose hysterical tantrums may be queen-like but given their dire straits is of little consequence except to the rag-tag bunch of household servants who are at her beck and call. The Ghulam (Jack) is a small-time, power-hungry Gangster whose aspirations for power, prestige and “class” propel him to have an affair with the Biwi. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia spins a riveting and entertaining tale that is intense, dramatic and captures a slice of feudal society that struggles to survive in the rough and tumble of Indian democracy.

Hopefully, in 2012, Bollywood will continue to throw up more such eclectic fare!

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