The joy of writing: Durjoy Datta

Writer and novelist DurjoyDatta shares his journey in writing and television…

DurjoyDatta is an author, novelist, screenplay writer and entrepreneur. He not only penned books that are a hit with youngsters but also wrote daily soaps like ‘Ek Veer Ki Ardaas...Veera’ on Star Plus, ‘Sadda Haq - My Life, My Choice’, ‘Million Dollar Girl - From Banaras to Paris’ on Channel V and currently ‘Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi’ on Sony TV. His recent book ‘The Boy Who Loved’ is being lapped up by his fance.

Excerpts

From a debut author to a popular one, how was the journey?
It has been great. I still love writing as much as I did on day one. I think that’s what inspires me. It is my profession now. It’s great but even if everything falls apart; I will keep writing for television and if that does not work, I will go back to the marketing but still I write a book and try to get it published. I am a middle-class guy. So, I have a lot of options and plans (laughs).

Tell us about your latest novel 'The Boy Who Loved'?
‘The Boy Who Loved’ is the first instalment of two book series. I wanted to write a hate story about a young boy, who is 14 when the book starts and it goes till he is 30. It will be a long series, however, we started with two as of now. There is, of course, a central love story but it’s how most of the things are learned by parents. It’s about how the boy discovers and makes his own ideas about love, religion and relationships.

Tell us about your fan following?
A lot of people think that only girls read my books. However, I don’t think that’s true. I know the percentage of girls reading my books is higher, but to people, it’s 95:5; but I am very sure that it is 60:40. I think girls read more than boys. And, compared to girls, boys do not express their love that openly. My first few books have been read by more number of boys and men than girls and women. The shift happened gradually.

How did television happen?
It started 3-4 years back when I wrote my first show. The production house was looking for a story in a setting of an engineering college, where there is only one girl. And they were looking for a person, who could weave a story around this. I think I was a good fit for it because in my college there was only one girl in my class, so I roughly knew what it is and what a girl goes through in that kind of environment. They called me and asked, “Do you want to write a television show?” And I did not know how I could do it. I thought why not give it a shot. Now television has become a fallback option. If my books stop selling I have another option and that is television.

Tell us about your show ‘Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi’?
For ‘Kuch Rang PyarKe…’ I just write the screenplay. The story was written by someone else but I have been with the show from day one. When it was starting, the rough story of the show was given by the channel to me and they said this is what we have and this is what we want to do. This is first hardcore soap that I did. The story is about a Bengali family, so I can connect with the theme very easily.

Any Bollywood projects in the pipeline?
Bollywood is a slow industry and I don’t think I am up for it right now. There is a lot effort that goes into it because I have been working with books and television, where the writer is at the top of the chain. I don’t see myself working very actively in movies but if someone just wants to buy my book and make it and doesn’t want any involvement from my side then I will be happy to do that.

What do you like the most; writing a book or for television?
I like writing books. I will pick books over anything any day. I really want to write. There is no day when I think ‘Oh no I have to write a book’ (laughs). But almost every second day I ask myself if do I really want to do television.

Your favourite author?
You cannot pick up any favourite author. But yes, I do read books and that’s how you will know to write a book, if you read other books. You will know how other people tell a story and it gives you a perspective. I either read or write.