Based on popular themes like elections and cricket, Anuja Chauhan's books provide just the right fodder for filmmakers looking to adapt literature onto the silver screen.
But, Chauhan says she finds such cinematic adaptations “boring”, particularly as a reader.
Hailed as one of the most sought-after chick lit writers in the country, she says a film adaptation can “never” match up to the imagination of a person who has read the book, although films might be instrumental in expanding a writer's audience.
“I do not know much as a writer but as a reader I never liked the movies based on books. It becomes quite boring to watch the film if you have already read the book. You start expecting things in the middle of a movie that you have read in the book. It is never as good as your imagination. There is nothing surprising.
“But I do feel that movies let you have a much wider audience. Usually when people watch a particular movie, they get influenced to read your previous works too. Every writer wants to have a wider audience and I think movies help in that,” she told PTI on the sidelines of the launch of her latest book “Bazz”.
Pulsating with love, laughter and courage, the 400-page- book published by Harper Collins is an unusual love story set in the backdrop of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
It is the story of Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera in Haryana, who is elated to be in the Indian Air Force.
Flanked by his friends in the forces, Ishaan has nothing on his mind but adventure, until his encounter with Tehmina Dadyseth, sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism.
Coming from a family of army men, Chauhan says she always wanted to write a “fauji book”.
“I did know that I wanted to write a fauji book at some point in my life. But, at the back of my mind, I always knew that writing a book on war will require a certain amount of craft,” she says, adding that seven members from her family had served in the 1971 war.
It was, therefore, only natural for her to begin her research at home.
“The raw data came through directly chatting with my family members. Then, I read a lot of military non-fiction books that dealt with the subject to get a deeper understanding. Material available on the internet also formed part of my research,” she says.
For Chauhan, who has earlier penned books like “Those Pricey Thakur Girls” and “The House That BJ Built”, her latest work was also an attempt to “welcome the male space” in her writing.
“My earlier works were all about girls, so I didn't want to write that kind of book again. I think the issues of nationalism, or war mongering are eternal.
“But, I am not trying to resolve any conflict with my work. I am just trying to reflect all points of view as well as I can,” she says.