Author Trisha Das: Indian romcoms have been somewhat boxed in, characters feel less thought out
Trisha Das, documentary filmmaker turned author, talks about the realm of romantic comedy in her recent book, The Grand Samara
“Up until lately, in Indian romcoms the characters feel less thought out. Too often, it’s about creating puppets to fall in love rather than exploring real people and letting love happen along the way. These have been somewhat boxed in,” says Trisha Das. The documentary filmmaker turned author’s thoughts about the scene of romantic comedy writings in India comes amid the discussions of her debut in the rom-com genre with her latest book, The Grand Samara.
Her commitment to crafting authentic characters — a quality often lacking in the genre — makes one ask Das about her strong connect with mythological fiction. “I’ve had mythology in my system for a really long time, and I felt like I needed to get it out — it was something that had to come out of me. But, I’ve always been a rom-com reader and writer; it’s just not something I published until now. I actually started writing my first rom-com when I was 21 years old, but I lost it because I hadn’t backed it up (laughs),” she says.
It took her years to return to writing a book, though she continues to craft rom-com screenplays that ultimately leading her to this new venture. “When the pandemic happened, I found myself reading a lot of rom-coms, because I was so stressed out, and needed an escape,” she reveals, talking about her inspiration for the book, and adds, “I felt that maybe my readers would want that too. The idea really came out of that... It was me re-reading my Georgette Heyer books as comfort reads. I read The Grand Sophie and thought, I’m going to adapt this. And I did. The process of writing it made me happy; it was my escape. I hope it does the same for my readers.”
While the author approached The Grand Samara with the initial goal of creating a guru dakshina for Heyer, she also notes that Indian rom-coms today present characters as mere puppets. Wanting to challenge this norm, she strives for an uncommon level of authenticity in her novel saying. “You’ve definitely seen strong characters in other genres in India, but not as much in romance, especially in contemporary rom-coms. I think it’s all about the approach. I start with the understanding that this is going to be a happily ever after — it’s going to be funny and about two people coming together. But after that, I strive to write as authentically as possible, whatever genre it may lean towards. While it’s funny, it also has elements of family drama. The book has its own voice and intent, and as a writer, you have to go with that and follow what the characters are telling you. Samara and Sharav (the main characters) are very strong characters in that respect,” she adds.
Allowing love to evolve naturally within the narrative was one of the most important things for Trisha when she began her writing process. “I wanted everything to feel very realistic. I didn’t want to turn Nonita (one of the side characters) into a villain because, at the end of the day, she is a product of her upbringing and the society she lives in. Let’s face it, Delhi society is exactly like that. I didn’t want to make her a caricature of a villain. You can be the most beautiful woman in the world, or a very handsome and successful man, but if there’s no chemistry, there’s no chemistry. On the surface, there may appear to be shared values, but if they aren’t genuine, it doesn’t matter. I wanted it to be about the dynamics of relationships, not to make caricatures out of these characters,” she says thoughtfully.
As for her writing process, the author muses about it for a minute before responding, “I think the writing process is different for each author, but for me, it’s quite set in stone. I need to take several steps before I even start writing a book, and that can sometimes take months. I always begin with characters; I meet them first, and then the story unfolds. For this book, I met Samara first and explored her life, which helped shape the narrative. I usually write in-depth backstories for all my characters so I understand them thoroughly before diving into the plot. Then, I create a detailed breakdown of the storyline, often resulting in a lengthy outline. This helps me know exactly where the story is headed, like a script, mapping out which scenes fit where. Sometimes I even draw graphs or create mood boards. I prepare extensively, and once that’s done, the actual writing feels more like fleshing out my skeleton.”
As she crafts her story, certain romantic tropes resonate more with Das. Ask what her favourite tropes are, and she laughs saying, “I absolutely love the friends-to-lovers trope; it’s definitely one of my favourites. Second chance romances are also high on my list, along with enemies-to-lovers, which I’ve explored in my writing. For instance, in Misters Kuru, Arjun and Kuru have a second-chance romance, and this book features the enemies-to-lovers dynamic. However, there are a couple of tropes I’m not fond of — like bullying romances or large age gaps; those really don’t appeal to me. I also prefer monogamous relationships and I’m not a fan of polyamory. But love triangles? I adore those, especially when the third wheel finds someone too. I want everyone to be happy and end up with the person they’re meant to be with!”