Adventures of a Writer

This interview with Pubali Chaudhuri was done a while back but am re-posting it as it is a one-of-a-kind interview that discusses the craft and business of screenwriting.... Enjoy!  Pubali Chaudhuri is a Bollywood screenwriter who has had two of her scripts turned into blockbuster Bollywood films. Rock On! , a movie about four friends who reunite to relive their moments of glory as a rock band, which released in 2008 was Pubali’s debut screenwriting effort for the Hindi film industry. This was followed by Kai Po Che four years later and was directed by Abhishek Kapoor who had helmed Rock On! as well. Like Rock On!, KPC is a story about friends but the tone, mood and feel of the film is totally different. It tells the tale of three friends, Ishaan, Omi and Govind who start a training academy to produce the country’s next cricket stars. Adapted from Chetan Bhagat’s novel 3 Mistakes of My Life, the story is set in Gujarat during the turbulent times of the Godhra riots...

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." -- Leonardo da Vinci Writers need to be self-starters. The act of finding an idea, developing it, putting it through its paces to make sure there is enough meat and material to turn it into a certain length requires an enormous amount of motivation. More so, because there is no tangible gain: no promise of a fat advance for your manuscript and no guarantee that your indie book will sell millions of copies. That itself is a huge barrier to writing. The delicious irony of being a writer is that the act of writing a piece of fiction also involves creating characters that have 'motivation'. Without motivation, your characters will not have enough juice to power your novel's plot. So, as a writer you are doing double duty -- motivating yourself and finding some for your characters. It would be great if you could find a bottle of that wonderful ingredient called Motivation in a store...

1857: Dust of Ages 1857. The rebellion erupts in India. Despite its attempts to stay aloof, NAVGARH, a small town near Delhi, is drawn into the conflagration. And at its heart are Princess Meera and Captain Richard Smith, with their strange alliance made for the throne of Navgarh. 2016. Shiv Sahai, a young Indian art historian and Ruth Aiken, a British scholar discover an excerpt from the journal of an anonymous British soldier, searching for his wife in the chaos of 1857 Delhi. As they begin investigating the scandal, they become aware of the vague rumours that are told in the bylanes of Navgarh -- about a princess who married a British soldier to save her kingdom. Buy Links: Amazon.com   Amazon.in   Amazon.co.uk My Review A well written historical fiction novel is difficult to pull off. Not only do you need to get your facts right, you need to tell a story that is compelling.  So when I came across Vandana Shanker's 1857: Dust of Ages I was int...