There’s no pressure to deliver bestsellers: Durjoy Datta
The author talks about his latest book and life post marriage.
Author Durjoy Datta’s latest book, The Girl of My Dreams, is a psychological thriller. This book is a slight deviation of sorts from his usual romance novels. Though this novel too has romance with a hint of supernatural, it’s essentially a Durjoy Datta novel. We get chatting with the author on his book, his wife Avantika and of course love.
What made you come up with a psychological thriller?
I have grown up reading thrillers and I always wanted to write one. I had been struggling to write one for years now. Most of the times, the premise wasn’t believable enough. I wanted the book to be twisted but in a way that’s relatable.
How did you come up with Shreyasi. Have you ever met someone like her?
I haven’t but Shreyasi is a cocktail of traits I have seen in a lot of people. They might not be as dominant as they are in Shreyasi but I have known someone who has a compulsive habit of flicking phones and going through them without reason, men who have been terrible at boundaries and people who could never get over their past relationships. All these traits were just heightened in Shreyasi.
Will we see a sequel to this book?
I don’t think so. I explored all angles of the story and there’s nothing left to write.
Why shift from romance to psychological thriller? Will we see you exploring other genres too?
Of course. I have always wanted to write across genres. Romance is what made people start reading me but I don’t intend to limit myself to just that. A good story is a good story. And moreover, romance can lend itself to a number of genres.
Among your contemporaries, which writer or writers do you like and why?
There’s of course Ravinder Singh and Amish (Tripathi) and Ashwin (Sanghi) and Ravi (Subramanian) who are wildly popular but if there’s someone whose book I actively look forward to is Samit Basu.
You got married this year. How is married life treating you?
Absolutely nothing has changed. It was a big party and now we are back to our lives as it was before. We do have a joint account (which is empty since we are still spending our own monies).
What have you learnt from being with Avantika?
She has taught me to be more outgoing. She has always been the gregarious one, the first one to start dancing in a party and the last one to leave while I’m the one staring at my shoes wondering why am I even here.
Watch the promo of Kuchh Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi:
You were also writing for television. Are you still doing so? Apart from writing books, what else are you doing?
Yes, I’m writing Kuchh Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi on Sony. It’s a fairly popular show. And I’m working in a few pilots. That’s all.
Most of your earlier books have done very well. Do you now feel the pressure of delivering bestsellers? Are you scared of disappointing your fans?
There’s no pressure of delivering bestsellers. I write what I like to and hope that my readers find the story engaging. I find it very difficult to write while keeping expectations of readers in my mind.
Will we see any of your books being made into films?
The movie business is a slow moving one. And they prefer to not read scripts, let alone books. So it’s going to take a long time I think.
What next will we read from Durjoy?
It’s too early to say exactly what my next book will be about. I will let you know. It’s just a bunch of paragraphs and ideas and strange characters right now. But what it’s for sure is a long-arching love story over a span of two decades. I’m yet to figure out how dominant the romance will be in the story.