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Manpriya Singh
Hitherto, she has portrayed girls’ perspective in a man’s world. Be it 25- year-old Jinni, working in an animation studio in The Battle of Bittora, or the Rajput girl working as an ad executive in The Zoya Factor. It goes without saying that her third novel Those Pricey Thakur Girls was about brattish sisters.
Well, The House That BJ Built was about a mother-daughter duo and four pushy aunts. With Baaz, author Anuja Chauhan, finally moves a little away from her literary space by writing about a boy, who plays the protagonist. Baaz is a high-octane romance set against an IAF backdrop during the Indo-Pak War of 1971.
While the war makes for a perfect cinematic background, it was more of her Army background that came into play for this one. She says, “It’s a tribute to our men in uniform.”
The book
The USSR-backed India-Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying a tiny fighter plane nicknamed Sabre Slayer for the devastation it has wrecked in the ranks of Pakistan’s F-86 Sabre Squadrons. Well, he has nothing on his mind but the glory and adventure—until an encounter with a sister of a dead fauji. The girl, who makes him question nationalism.
Year 1971, the Indo-Pak war
Creating a historically factual backdrop of the war hasn’t been easy. “It took four to five months of just raw research comprising interviewing retired IAF fighters. They remembered each and every detail.” This, apart from the referring to life in cantonment, talking to the wives… “I read military non-fiction and historical books. In fact, right from the timeline to facts to history, everything is a true reflection of the time.”
Movies on books?
And the debate goes on…whether films do justice to books or not. Meanwhile, she throws in her honest perspective. “As a reader, I wouldn’t like it very much. I have read the book, I know what is going to happen, so there is no element of surprise or suspense for me,” shares the Bengaluru-based author. However, having said that, “As a writer, of course that is great. I’m happy with the trend as that gets me a wider audience, more money and my works are more talked about.” Now that’s as honest as it gets.
Who can play the hero?
It’s only after some nudging and repeated questioning that she agrees to take a couple of names from Bolywood. “My protagonist is desi, confident, cocky, short, brave and vulnerable, so I think it’s Salman from 10 years ago or Farhan from 10 years ago.”
For the aspiring authors
Considering her works have been bestsellers, and news-makers at several point of time, she can throw in the much needed mantras for success. “Please read. And read across all categories or genres. Write a bit everyday. There are no short cuts to success. So, don’t write just two chapters and expect the publishers to go ahead with it.
manpriya@tribunemail.com
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