How did you think of writing a rom-com novel?
I started writing rom-coms when I was 21 and straight out of college. I wrote about 150 pages of the book on my dad’s computer that crashed later, and I kind of lost a bit of confidence along with it. I went on to make documentary films and wrote other books, but the plan was to eventually write a rom-com. I read a lot of romance novels, and this is my homage to some of the classics.
The idea of home is very important for your protagonist, Samara. How did that theme emerge?
It was there from the beginning when I was planning to make the character a diplomat’s daughter. I’ve lived outside India a lot during my childhood. I too struggled with the idea of home when I was growing up. When I was developing her character, and thinking about why she feels the need to help others, it struck me that helping people became her own search for meaning, for identity, and for a place that she could call her own.
In today’s times, when it is easy to swipe left or right on dating apps, how do you make a romance feel authentic and real?
I think this generation has been on dating apps for a while now, and they are gradually finding out that it is actually quite disillusioning, and a shallow, temporary way to meet people. People are getting off these apps now, and trying to find more authentic, long-term relationships as opposed to hook-ups.
In the novel, Samara and Sharav do not choose to be together; they are both stuck in the same place, and both are contrasting characters. They come together with a lot of electricity and chemistry just because they are so different. My plots, themes, banter and dialogue are character-led. I think Samara’s interference and Sharav’s resistance played off each other. If their chemistry comes across as authentic, then it is very much character-led.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
I have a very active imagination, so the most challenging part was to keep everyone normal and not turn Samara into a witch or set the story in some parallel universe! (laughs). Sometimes, if things are too normal, I tend to get a little bored. So, I think the challenge was how to keep this as interesting but also as normal a story as possible with two regular people in a regular world, in a regular house, with regular problems, and still manage to make it exciting, fun and engaging for the reader.
Why do people keep coming back to rom-coms?
The beauty of rom-coms is that while one is mostly dealing with the same themes, people still keep going back and re-reading them. It’s a guaranteed happily-ever-after. It’s hope, I think. It’s the feeling of comfort that they give us and an escape from our overstressed-out lives. You can have the same plot by a different author in a different situation with different characters, and the same reader will choose to read both books because they’re chasing the feeling that those books give them, not so much the books themselves.
When you are writing a book, do you have it in the back of your head that it could be picked up for a movie adaptation?
Well, I am a filmmaker myself, so I think I approach writing from a filmmaker’s perspective. It’s just something that happens automatically. I look at most things from a filmmaker’s perspective because that’s the first thing that I learned straight out of college. There has been some interest in adapting this book, so I am looking forward to that.
You don’t want to direct it yourself?
I’ve only ever made documentaries. I’ve never done fiction. Feature films are a different world and they require a different skill. I’d rather have a good and experienced director take it up.
What’s in the pipeline?
Two more rom-coms. I think they make the readers happy and they also keep me happy.