‘WHEN YOU’RE A WRITER, YOU ARE ANSWERABLE TO NO ONE’
For television director and writer Ravi Rai, penning a book opened up a whole new world for him
When Ravi Rai sat down to write his novel, The Tattoo On My Breast, he felt a “great sense of freedom”. There were no corporate honchos looming over him calling out for deadlines. So, Rai, an experienced writer himself, took his time to pen a heartbreaking tale of migration with descriptive accuracy. In an interview, the filmmaker talks about the current state of television, his reservations with the kind of content that’s being made, and his literary tryst. Excerpts:
Although many filmmakers have written books, one can’t help but wonder if transitioning from filmmaking to writing a novel was a tad boring…
I don’t know about others, but I have written every word myself. As a writer, I have written my own shows on television. It did take quite a long time. The process is very interesting because when you write about your journey, new things and thoughts emerge. I needed to write because it is important to keep writing. Another reason would be that I was not finding the right place for myself in films or television, which I have been doing for a very long time. Television, I would not say is regressive, but with the kind of shows we were making, I was not finding the right place.
Was that frustrating?
Not frustrating. But I felt that television should have evolved by now. My first show on television was Sailaab, which was about extramarital affairs, and the dialogues, too, were highly philosophical. I was praised for my shows. Even today, when people meet me, they know me because of the kind of work I did. But my point is that, over a period of time, people should have evolved. They should have moved on. Why are we taking them back?
But what about the OTT takeover that we’ve seen in the last few years?
With web shows, too, do you think we have a show that can matches the brilliance of shows around the world? The only show that’s working today has dialogues like, ae bhen **** , maare kya tumko bhos **** . It’s the same on numerous OTT shows. There are so many issues that need to be touched. If you look at world cinema and world web series, they touch upon subjects like Alzheimer’s so brilliantly. There are infinite subjects.
Coming to your journey as a writer, were you an avid reader growing up?
My favourite book was The
Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, which is true for everyone when they’re in school. You definitely read it when you’re in school. Then, I read Lust For Life, a book on the life of Vincent van Gogh by Irving Stone. But after The Fountainhead, I found myself gravitating towards biographies of people like Akira Kurosawa.
The process must have been freeing, since an author is only answerable to himself.
Exactly, because today even the sky is not the limit. When you write, you go beyond the sky. As a writer, you’re answerable to no one. I always used to say that I’d love to do creative work where there is no one above me, but they’re next to me, with me. That’s the biggest thing that can happen to a creative person. So, when I was writing this, there was no one telling me what is right or what is wrong.
What was the research process like?
I loved the process that was required because my book is based around the Partition of India. And, in that process, the amount of knowledge that I gathered was very enriching. Being a Sindhi myself, I enjoyed it. The book begins in 1942, at the end of World War 2 and the onset of the Quit India movement. And it ends in 1954. So, it passes through Partition and every major event that happened after that. Because of the time frame, I got to make them a part of the book. But what I like about my book is not the Partition, but the clouds of it. About how these clouds started getting darker when the rumours started floating about it happening. Initially, people thought that it will not happen.
There’s a love story, too, but my book is largely about Sindhis moving, and if you narrow it down, it is about a Sindhi family that’s forced to flee. There are layers in the lines because in the family, the father is a hardcore Gandhian and the son believes in the RSS ideology. That makes both these ideologies clash.
But make no mistake, they do share a normal loving relationship.
ndia has no dearth of writers. But hat do you make of the Indian adership?
hen I took to writing, I was t aiming to become a Vikram Seth or a Chetan Bhagat. I was not looking for my words to go commercial. I needed an outlet for myself. Writing this book, primarily, was very satisfactory for me. No matter what alternatives crop up, the exchange of thoughts, mainly, are through books because the author does not change for he/ she is supreme.
Adaptation must have cropped up in your mind…
Yes, I would like to monetise my work as much as I can. The book does require major OTT players or big production houses. But at the end of the day, the producer needs to be passionate about the Partition of India. So, finding the right player to produce and exhibit this is crucial. But at the same time, I feel my book can cover six to seven seasons of a web series.
Over a period of time, people should have evolved. They should have moved on. Why are we taking them back?
RAVI RAI,
DIRECTOR-AUTHOR