HYDERABAD: Two children start an interesting journey on foot in the desert of Rajasthan and many adventures follow. Dhanak is the new fictional venture by techie-turned-editor-and-writer Anushka Ravishankar. She has won awards for writing children’s books. She is also the co-founder of Duckbill Books, a publishing house. She hails from Nashik and has more than 17 books to her name. Ravishankar was in the city for the launch. She’s the first author to novelise a movie in India. The movie by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor, is about a visually challenged boy (Chotu) and his sister (Pari) who set on a journey to meet SRK and get Chotu’s eyesight back. She derives inspiration from British biggies like Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear talks about her unique way of writing children’s rhymes, the dearth of children’s books in India and more. Read on:
What inspired you to transform Dhanak into a book?
It happened all of a sudden, I was wondering how there are very few authors in India specialising in fiction for young children and even though there are a few books, they are published by small firms and are not recognized by many. That is when I stumbled upon a common friend of Nagesh who gave me this idea to novelize the film into a children’s book and I was hooked on to the idea instantly and approached Nagesh who was elated at the idea because it was the first time this was happening in a reverse process, a movie being made into a book in India.
How was the experience of writing the book?
It was a break from my monotonous routine and was quite fun as I had only a week to write the entire book. Though quite exhausting, it was a worthwhile experience because Nagesh’s movies always have a magic in them and I wanted to keep that intact. All my other work came to a halt and I was writing day and night to make this happen.
Tell us about your unique style of writing rhymes for children
I write nonsense verses but it’s taken as a derogatory term and not many know about this genre. I like playing with words and logic, maybe because I love mathematics as a subject. Most of my work is inspired from Lewis Carroll’s works. Many parents have personally come to tell me how much they enjoyed these rhymes.
Are there any variations in the book compared to the movie?
Eventhough the story is beautifully knitted, there were places where my perceptions were slightly differen to Nagesh’s but I spoke to him about it and tried not to stray away from the story because ultimately I was novelizing the movie and I wanted to keep it just the way it is. But there are snippets of exclusive interviews of both the siblings that you will find in the book. We did think about changing the title for a brief minute but novelizations mostly have the same name as the film so we decided to stick to that.
What challenges did you face while writing Dhanak?
The time constraint posed a challenge for me initially but eventually I got a hang of it as I am an erratic writer. One thing was that I had to keenly observe every expression, emotions and jot it down. I had to put emphasis on every minute detail to make it as perfect as the movie so it won’t seem a great departure from the story. Reading the screenplay, watching the movie and transforming it into a movie was a bit tiring but worthwhile.
What is your connection with Hyderabad?
I have been to this city a number of times, sometimes work related or just to meet friends and it’s like a second home for me now. The city with its abundance of literature has always intrigued me and launching Dhanak here along with Nagesh and the two kids was a beautiful experience.
Is the book exclusively a child’s read?
Best books work for everyone, be it children or adult, they are for people of every age. Everyone can draw something out of it and Dhanak is a book which will be enjoyed by all age groups.