In a candid session at the Times LitFest-Delhi, author-journalist Priyanka Sinha Jha and screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi were seen in a conversation with Bollywood biographer, author and journalist Yasser Usman. During their discussion, the two shared a bunch of interesting stories from Bollywood with Usman and the audience, their experiences in the industry about script writing and book writing, their encounters with actors etc.
Before the session began, Priyanka Sinha Jha’s new book, ‘Folktales from Bollywood’ was launched by festival director Vinita Dawra Nangia, Juhi Chaturvedi, Yasser Usman, and Ajay Mago- Publisher, Om Books. The book is inspired by real Bollywood anecdotes yet presented in the form of fictional stories and they're full of drama and masala. The book features 10 short tales that have a little in common with actual B-town stories.
After the book launch, Yasser Usman started the discussion by saying, “Juhi, you’ve written scripts for films including ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘October’ and ‘Vicky Donor’. I realized that one common thing between your story and Priyanka’s new book is that they have really quirky characters.” He also read Priyanka’s dedication to this book, and said, “'For all wildly curious Bollywood lovers who have posed to me the mischievous question- Is it true?'”
To this Priyanka said, “I’ve dedicated this to all the Bollywood lovers who always ask questions and also the fact that people were so fascinated by it. Cut to the lockdown, all of us were coping in different ways. We were all talking to other people, chatting and calling. But then how much could you talk about the vaccine and Covid. It was depressive and a bit morbid. Then again questions popped up like 'What are the actors doing when the movies are not releasing?’
"That kind of sparked the idea of this book. So, I was like I’m not going to pass on rumours to people because sometimes they really believe or want to believe crazy stuff. This whole web of imagined or real stories around the life that Bollywood represents was so fascinating. It’s not only about a person or a star but there’s more to it. So, the thought was let me give them the world of Bollywood with these quirky characters, quirky stories, somethings which they want to hear and something unexpected representing that world from what I’ve seen, observed and heard and pull it all together in a bunch of short stories. So that’s what ‘Folk Tales From Bollywood is,” she added.
Next Yasser asked Juhi Chaturvedi, “When you were pitching your 'Vicky Donor' script, no one had seen something like a sperm donor story before it came. Did anyone pose that question to you? Is it from your life experiences or someone close to you? Where was the idea coming from?”
To this Juhi replied, “I was a new mom at that time. I was completely overwhelmed in love with my child. Also, a little away from my super hectic advertising routine. Before that I had already experienced Bollywood sets. I’ve written the dialogues for this film ‘Shoe bite’ which, unfortunately, hasn’t come out as yet. After that I was back to my routine job but my daughter was born then, so I had taken a sabbatical from work. But I wanted to do something with the Bollywood writing because once you experience that big-scale, it's very difficult to restrict yourself to a 30-seconds advertisement. And, maybe, my circumstances around me being a new mother-- all of that somewhere may have played a little role because I was in that environment. So, I can’t say the idea came from out of the blue... I wasn’t sure that Shoojit Sircar (director) would even consider it. But that’s the beginning of the world. How can we shy away from it? I definitely didn't."
When Yasser asked Priyanka if the characters of her new book were inspired by real-life people, she said, “It's inspired by reality but it's entirely fictional. There is an illusion of reality that one strives for in fiction which can stem from reality or not. Some of these things are completely a flight of imagination while some of them are inspired by reality."
Taking the conversation ahead, Yasser also asked the two if they consider themselves as a woman writer or just a writer? And what is the difference? “Absolutely not! Just a writer," replied Juhi. While Priyanka said, “I consider myself a woman writer.”
Juhi added, “For me I think being a writer is secondary. It starts with thinking and thinking has to be sensitive. I need to have that elasticity. I cannot be rigid in my views and judgemental. Understanding is my starting point and as a writer sensitivity and awareness is needed. My gender helps me understand certain things better like periods because I go through it. But having said that, can I not write about somebody who donates sperms? I can. Because it's how you decide to transcend. I cannot be restricted to my body and to my given gender. I’ve to go beyond and become someone else."
Meanwhile, Priyanka elaborated her view point by saying, “I like the idea of understanding that I’m a woman and I’m a writer and my being a woman does shape my narrative in a very strong way. This is not to say that I cannot write about a male subject but I feel like being a woman, I might look at it completely differently from what a male writer would look at it. I’m not saying it's a limitation in many ways-- it defines me, my narrative and my thinking and I'm proud of it because it makes it (my writing) unique."
During the course of the hour-long session, the two also shared stories about their encounters with the late actor Irfan Khan and megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
(Byline: Devanshi Batra)
