Adite’s offering to romance seekers

By Dilshan Boange

Romance and business may not seem two words or worlds that ideally should have any direct axis. But if such an axis is imposed, perhaps the romanticism of true loves should be to unbind the politics of business from the purity of love and romance. The title of Indian romance novelist Adite Banerjie’s debut novel The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal stirred these initial thoughts in me as I contemplated on what the title could impress upon a reader.

Adite Banerjie

A writer with over 20 years’ experience as a journalist and researcher, Adite has now arrived in the world of fiction writing with her first novel which is a Harlequin Mills and Boon novel that explores the theme of love and romance in a manner appealing to those who seek entertainment in the genre of romance novels.

What is significant to note is that Adite who traces her roots as a writer to business journalism which includes working for Indian publications such as The Economic Times and Business Today, does not have in her novel a male protagonists named Gavin or Blake or a heroine named Laura or Deborah which creates for the reader a typical Anglo-American narrative which markets western society and ways.

Indian milieu

Adite’s narrative unfolds an Indian milieu and can be thought of as a work that believes in speaking of the pulse of the contemporary Indian context of love and romance in the mould of a Harlequin Mills and Boon novel. Adite who has held the position of Senior Associate Editor of the Indian publication Business Today has worked widely as a researcher and media consultant for many organisations such as India’s National Council for Applied Economic Research, The World Health Organisation and many others. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the Bombay University as well as a Diploma in Journalism.

Her writing which began in journalism has expanded in its diversity to include script writing for both documentaries and feature film productions. She wrote the scripts for Road to Rangoon, a documentary on Indo-Burma relations; The Hostage Drama, a documentary on terrorism in Kashmir, which were documentaries broadcast on Indian national television.

Being an established screenwriter she is currently writing a screenplay for a Bollywood feature film. And now with her debut novel published in September this year Adite has reached a new milestone in her career as an author. Speaking to the Sunday Observer’s Montage the New Delhi based writer who has shown much diversity in her writing career shared some of her insights about her latest achievement –The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal.

Excerpts:

Question: Your career in writing begins with your work as a journalist. What directed you to make that career choice?

Answer: After I finished college I decided to do a short course in journalism. It was one of those do-something-useful-during-the-holidays kind of thing. But soon I was fascinated by the idea of working as a journalist, writing about different issues, reporting from different places. By the time I had finished with the course I was hooked. I couldn’t think of taking up any other career.

Question: How did your work and experience as a journalist shape your outlook about writing and the different genres of writing?

Answer: Working as a journalist gave me the opportunity to try out different types of writing – feature writing, news reporting and business writing. I covered elections, wrote about crime, social trends and interviewed film stars. I was exposed to all genres of writing within the framework of news and feature writing.

Later, I got into business writing and my features became more niche-oriented and analysis-driven. This helped me to develop report writing skills for NGOs as well as social development organisations and research agencies, which I took up after I quit full time journalism.

I have dabbled with and enjoyed several forms of non-fiction writing. This exposure has helped me tremendously in creating characters, building story worlds, developing plots and exploring different kinds of issues.

Debut novel

Q: Your debut novel The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal is a romance. Before going into discussing the book, I’d like to ask you, how do you view ‘romance’ in the actual Indian socio-cultural context today?

A: Romance is a very loaded word, especially in India. At one level it is an urban phenomenon and the Western concepts of dating, Valentine’s Day, pre-marital sex have all become a part of the Indian social milieu.

But at another level it is also regarded as something that is foreign to our culture leading to all kinds of conflict.

Middle class urban Indians are opting for a balance between the Westernised and Indian notions of romance.

To urban youngsters dating is as much an Indian ritual as it is Western but family approval still matters when it comes to marriage.

As a result the Indian system of “arranged marriages” has got updated to meet the changing notions of love and romance.

In popular culture, Bollywood and romance are inextricably linked. And this has to some degree permeated into the socio-cultural realm.

For instance, the festival of Karva Chauth, which celebrates a wife’s devotion for her husband, was essentially a north Indian phenomenon. But thanks to Karan Johar’s movies, it has now acquired a pan-India appeal. What’s more, in urban cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, many husbands too fast for their wives on Karva Chauth. In a sense, Bollywood has added a romantic and modern sheen to an age-old tradition.

Q: What’s the inspirational force behind the novel? What functioned as the framework for you to develop the plot and narrative?

A: Harlequin Mills and Boon novels have a structure that has developed over decades. And some of the most popular tropes are those dealing with arranged marriages, revenge, second chance at love and so on. While developing the plot, I picked on one such theme – my book is about a woman who wants revenge against a man who destroyed her family but falls in love with his son – and set it in an Indian milieu.

Since it is pegged as a romance, the main story deals with the romantic relationship between Krish and Maya. But it is also a coming of age story, for both the hero and heroine. The story explores Krish’s angst-ridden relationship with his autocratic father and his need to strike out on his own while Maya has to come to terms with her need for revenge and her own emotional baggage.

Revenge

Since I have also been writing screenplays, I wanted my book to have a movie-like feel to it; so while the romance element remains the main highlight of the book the plot which deals with the Heroine’s revenge adds to the drama and keeps the story moving at a brisk pace.

Q: Within the theme of ‘romance’, Harlequin Mills and Boon novels and Bollywood films may have similarities in theme, but they are technically of two different forms of expression and genres as works. So do you think they both finally serve a common objective and purpose, or do they also offer something distinctly ‘genre specific’ to their readers and viewers?

A: It is often said that a Bollywood film is like a thali – the traditional food platter with a variety of flavours. The audience gets a flavour of several genres in one film: romance, mystery, drama and humour. Mills and Boon novels are primarily love stories and are told from the perspective of two protagonists – the Heroine and the Hero. While it may have secondary characters the story revolves around the development of the couple’s romantic relationship. But despite these differences in their structure Bollywood films and M and Bs have a common objective – to entertain their viewers/readers.

Reception

Q: How has the reception been to The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal so far? Any specific comments that has made an impact on you from critics or readers?

A: I am delighted that the book has been so well received by avid readers of romance as well as those who are not regular readers of romance. I think one of the most interesting observations about my book was made by a reader who observed that she found it easy to picture the two characters together 10 or 20 years from now.

As an author, I felt good to know that the reader had been so drawn by the characters that she could actually visualise a life for the fictional characters beyond the ‘happily ever after’ moment.

Q: Have you made plans for your next book yet? Do you see yourself exploring other genres of novels in the future?

A: I have a two-book deal with Harlequin and my second book will be published in mid- 2014. I am currently writing a drama/thriller and at some point I plan to write a romantic thriller as well. I can’t say whether these will end up getting published or not, but I definitely mean to write these stories.