A Bollywood superstar dies, and a power struggle erupts between his wife and his lover to claim his legacy. A superstar hero’s mother comes to his rescue. An arthouse director must get off his high horse and sign up for a project to launch Mr Moneybag’s son. Reads like pages from a filmi journal. Not quite. Showbiz friendships turning sour, vacuous vanity that rival the ostentatious vanity vans of the biggest stars, and behind-the-scenes shenanigans — Priyanka Sinha Jha’s debut collection of stories, Folktales from Bollywood: Adventures in Tinseltown, chronicles the topsy-turvy world of Bollywood folks and their rollercoaster lives. Astutely observant and catty, these tales from the kaleidoscopic world that is the dream factory are replete with familiar characters who are figments of imagination… or are they? My Kolkata asks the author:
Can you tell us how the book originated?
Priyanka Sinha Jha (PSJ): As a journalist who has written extensively about celebrities and Bollywood stars and their lives, I have often been asked about what happens in their personal lives. During the lockdown in 2020-21, when the mood was despondent, I had many conversations with friends and kept them entertained and upbeat with celebrity-based backroom anecdotes gleaned during the course of my career. These light-hearted conversations provided everyone with a respite from the uncertainty all around. And in my mind, it also triggered the idea of writing light-hearted fictional stories using Bollywood as a springboard for my imagination, because there wasn’t any literature of that sort for Bollywood fans. At least I didn’t find anything contemporary in that space.
What is it about Bollywood that made you want to create fictional tales set in it? And more importantly do short stories than develop full-fledged novels?
PSJ: Bollywood is a rather unique and colourful place, there is in-built drama, conflict and glamour, even in the most mundane aspect of life. In Bollywood truth is actually stranger than fiction. But, can Bollywood-based fiction seem close to the truth? This thought intrigued me and played on my mind enough for me to start my journey towards writing these. People who have read the book keep asking me who or what such and such story is based on. So, I feel that I was able to achieve what I set out to do. I do think some stories or characters in the book may have the potential to develop into novels. But then the drama in the story would have to be bigger and more layered than a short story.
You have been a close observer of the world in your capacity as editor, Screen, and other journalistic positions. How has that influenced the collection — has your proximity helped or been a hindrance.
PSJ: Indeed, my journey as the editor of Screen, Society Magazine and HT Style & Saturday and my subsequent positions at Hotstar, Star TV and Network18 as content head for Entertainment apart from my decade-long experience as the curator of the Star Screen Awards has allowed me a vantage point as a fly on the wall to closely observe the goings-on in Bollywood. Individual lives are interesting but they have already been chronicled in detail in media articles and books. However, what happens to people’s lives between struggle and stardom, between rejection and acceptance are things that fascinate me more. These are universal happenings and only the people’s names keep changing. But, when you’re drawing from real-life and creating fiction, the hindrance comes from the fact that one has to be a little extra careful in the way one is shaping the narrative so as to not sound callous. It’s a tough balance to strike when recreating that world to achieve verisimilitude.
‘Individual lives are interesting but they have already been chronicled in detail in media articles and books. However, what happens to people’s lives between struggle and stardom, between rejection and acceptance are things that fascinate me more,’ says Priyanka Sinha Jha Shutterstock
Why is good fiction around cinema not available in India? The one really good book that comes to mind is Krishna Shastri's Jump Cut set in the Tamil industry? Otherwise, we kind of settle for bland celeb bios.
PSJ: Bollywood seems to have become a Holy Cow of sorts. I think the market is more comfortable with milquetoast celeb bios as they will find an easy market among fans of a particular celebrity. Anything with an edge or something that does not fall into the tried-and-tested box would probably be considered a risk. And the job is even tougher when one is working on a tongue-in-cheek and somewhat irreverent take.
Any particular real-life encounter that was directly responsible for any of these stories? The characters — producer father, all-loving mother, artsy-director making masala film, bitching co-stars — are all relatable figures.
PSJ: A journalist never reveals her sources! But the origins of all these characters lie in real-life happenings of this world. One has witnessed directors or even actors making work choices they are not happy about just to keep the home fires burning, or protective parents fussing over their children and trying to outdo their kids’ competition. As you rightly mentioned these are very relatable. I have merely framed them in the world of show business with those unique Bollywoodsian circumstances that compel the characters to behave in the manner that they do.
‘Bollywood seems to have become a Holy Cow of sorts. I think the market is more comfortable with milquetoast celeb bios as they will find an easy market among fans of a particular celebrity’ Shutterstock
Publishers opine that fiction is dead in India, and that short stories no longer are a viable publishing option. Your take? Is there another volume or a novel waiting? Or given your insights into the industry, a bio?
PSJ: Fiction, to my mind, will remain integral to the entertainment ecosystem no matter in what form it is consumed. With the evolution of fiction in varied formats that are appealing for popular consumption, traditional book publishing needs to evolve too. A good example of that is the rise of audio-fiction and web series. Both are great new forms for fiction, especially short and serialised fiction. I would like to explore short-fiction a little more now because it allows more room to tell a variety of stories. Additionally, I am planning to take some of the characters from this into a standalone novel. As for a celebrity-bio, an interesting personality who lets me tell their story, warts and all, might tempt me to join the celeb-bio bandwagon.
Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri is a film and music buff, editor, publisher, film critic and writer.