It’s all about time management for Neeraj Pandey
I can make time for films and novels because it’s all about time management. Writing novels doesn’t interfere with my direction process because I am passionate about it. NEERAJ PANDEY, FILMMAKER
In 2013, Neeraj Pandey had a creative experience of a different kind, when he penned his first novel, Ghalib Danger. Earlier this year, a Hindi version of the same bestseller hit the shelves. Now, even as the film-maker plans to continue his love for writing books, does he find both — writing a novel and a film script — absolutely distinct? “The biggest difference is that in the novel format, you are not worried about expressing yourself at leisure, so you feel free. A novel allows you to scale things up and blow them up, and see how it turns out. That’s why the journey is slightly different,” he says.
Ask him if there is a point where the ‘director’ and ‘novelist’ inside him, meet midway during the writing process, and he says: “Since I am essentially a director, I can’t shut that side of myself off when I am writing something. It goes hand-inhand. At the same time, I feel there won’t be any pressure if you enjoy what you are doing. You know, when I am writing something, a part of my mind — that may have gone through similar experiences as a director — sometimes comes to rescue. And that helps a lot, especially when it comes to screen-writing.”
Even though Pandey is one of the busiest film-makers around, he is able to find time for both. “I can make time [for films as well as novels] because it’s all about time management. It [writing novels] doesn’t interfere with my direction process, because it’s something that I am passionate about,” says the MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016) director, adding that he “never feels pressure” of any kind. “You should keep giving your best and that’s it. The idea should be to keep things simple,” he says.