Author-screenwriter Durjoy Datta is on cloud nine, and has every reason to be. He and his wife, Avantika Mohan are expecting their first child in July. About a fortnight ago, he shared adorable pictures from his babymoon. “In the entire duration of the pregnancy, we have been to Bali twice, once to Nepal, and a couple of times to Dubai,” he says, adding that the idea for a babymoon was mostly his wife’s. “She wanted to go and I listened. That’s like the cardinal rule of pregnancy. You listen to the woman,” he quips.
One of the best-selling Indian authors in the romance genre, Datta gives us a peek into his love story. “I knew her from Orkut (a now defunct social networking website), but she didn’t. Unbeknownst to her, I used her name and likeness in my first book. It had three more follow up books, all of which she read and reached out to me. She told me she always imagined herself as the main protagonist. And then, one thing led to another, and we decided to start dating,” he says.
Married for over a year now, things haven’t changed much for the two. “We have probably gotten more dependent on each other for a few things,” he says. Though marriage didn’t do much to change things, parenthood would be a different ball game. How are they preparing for it? “We are not doing anything to prepare at all. For now, we are taking it one day at a time. Both our parents are really scared about this. I think they will snatch the kid, run, and raise him/her,” he says, adding, “We are getting a lot of tips...what to do/what not to do during the pregnancy, all of which is hearsay and superstition.”
Coming back to work, what is keeping Datta busy? “The Boy Who Loved is just out. The first reviews are in and they have been encouraging I’m working on its sequel now,” he tells us. The author also dabbles with writing for television, but finds writing books emancipating. “The freedom that writing a book gives you is incomparable. TV works around TRPs and you have to keep the audience in mind. In books, you can do what you please,” he says.
We ask him what’s the craziest thing a fan has done for him and he says, “Someone got a few sentences from my book tattooed.”
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