GROUNDED, BUT STILL FLOATING

Actor, director and writer Jayant Kripalani is best loved for his roles in TV series’ such as Mr Ya Mrs, Ji Mantri Ji and Khaandaan. He has appeared in films such as 3 Idiots and Hawaizaade, and is the author of New Market Tales (NMT) and the recent Cantilevered Tales ( )

Cantilevered Tales is a rather deceptive title for a novel...

Why is it deceptive? A cantilever is a girder that is fixed only on one side. My characters are like that. Grounded on one end, floating at the other, all slightly flaky. In fact, I deeply resent the use of the term ‘deceptive’. Plus, Howrah Bridge is a cantilevered bridge and is itself a character in the book. These are short stories which became a large story purely by happenstance. But I would hesitate to call the book a novel.

Unlike NMT, CT, despite its light tone, has darkness one usually doesn’t associate with your writing. Any special reason behind it?

Look around you. For the last few years we’ve been living in a hell that we made for ourselves. I’m surprised the writing wasn’t darker than it is.

How much of your protagonist’s descriptions and experiences of Tirthan are autobiographical?

I am as familiar with Tirthan as I am with Kolkata. So naturally my experiences in Tirthan are going to creep in to my story telling. Khokon Lahiri, however, is just someone I met on a bus, liked, researched and made my friend and then my protagonist.

There might be a minute portion of me in Khokon but he is far too mild for me to want to be him.

Sometimes your characters eclipse the plot. What do they mean to you?

I love them. I love every kink, every foible, every eccentric molecule that makes them. Even a minor character like Hothka, the overweight, spit-spraying Minister for Urban Development who I can’t stand, is very dear to me. All of them are creatures of circumstance; they can’t really help who they are and have always been far more important to me than the plot.

How is writing a book different from writing for TV/ films?

While writing for TV and film you can gloss over the details. For example I can write: ‘Exterior. Day. Writer’s Building, Calcutta’. The director knows what he has to do. In a book I’d have to describe in much greater detail what I want you to see.

Who are your favourite contemporary authors? Your influences?

I haven’t read much in the recent past. I’ve watched a lot of films and television stories from all around the world, so writers and their influences on me are non-existent at the moment. Old films by Guru Dutt. Pyaasa blew me away again. Shyam Benegal. Mandi is way ahead of its time. Yatra and Bharat Ek Khoj—TV shows that should be shown on every channel as news

and current affairs.

Which present-day novel would you like to adapt for a film and what character would you like to play?

Naseer in Naseeruddin Shah’s autobiography. —with Divya Dubey