Drifting from the dark romantic thrillers that author Novoneel Chakraborty is known for, the author ventures into a coming-of-age drama that chronicles the life and journey of Falak and Nityami with Remember Me As Yours. The Heartbreak Club author talks about the temporary transition, being drawn to female characters and more. Excerpts.
The last time we spoke during the launch of The Heartbreak Club, you told us about shifting to a new genre — from a dark romantic thriller to a coming-of-age drama. Tell us about the transition. How has the experience been?
After writing for more than 15 years, I think it was natural for me to switch genres (temporarily) to move out of my comfort terrain, tell stories in a different light and also, to see how my readers react to the newness. Personally, for me the transition wasn’t challenging because I have told stories of diverse genre in the television world but what gave me the creative kick was the storytelling part. Also, unlike writing a thriller I didn’t have to focus on the plot all the time. Deep diving into the characters of Nityami and Falak was a refreshing change.
What was it that gave birth to the character of Nityami and Falak?
The two are a collection of the subconscious notes I make while meeting people, observing them or when some people open their hearts out to me. I figured there was a pattern to what I was hearing. The breakups, the ghosting, the abuse…this was when I started filtering out my thoughts regarding how I wanted Nityami and Falak to be placed in their lives.
You also informed that the book will be a ‘borderline comedy’. How did exploring this style of writing make the script a light read?
Initially, I was writing with the genre of romcom in my head. But when the dark tones in the book came about I realised the genre had a certain connotation and if I call it a full-fledged romcom then the readers maybe disappointed. Hence, I started calling it a borderline romcom to check the readers’ expectation curve.
Your books always have a strong female character and this time we see two of them from two different backgrounds. Tell us about the process of making them a part of your narrative.
I’ve always found it fascinating to dive into female characters and use their emotional make-up to knit the fabric of my story. First book onwards, it has always come naturally to me. Then on I’ve never tried challenging it either because the entire head dive into the female perspective arrests my creative consciousness like nothing else. While writing this particular book, I realised many times the backgrounds, education and social positioning of girls can be different and yet they seem to be fighting the same battle. I tried to explore this aspect subtly with Remember Me As Yours.
The bonding of the two strangers who become friends is not ordinary. Was there something more that you wanted to say from their bonding?
I wanted to bring out the fact that the kind of social design we have made, sometimes for girls it doesn’t matter how educated they are or where they stand financially or even socially, if one looks deeper, in the details they seem to be fighting the same battle. That’s an unfortunate thing. And it’s their zest to continue the fight that bonds the two girls in my story, eventually making them realise they can’t perhaps defeat a few things, but they can certainly outgrow them in a way that they stopped caring about it while carrying on with their life, their way.
The plot shifting to Calcutta and then to Sikkim, connects with the readers on this side of the country. Do you have memories too of Sikkim?
I’d made this short road trip once. And much of what I’ve written is from the vague memory of that trip. I didn’t intentionally get into too much detailing; as for me the inner journey of the girls was more important than the outer one.
What’s next after this?
The second part of my bestselling high school thriller The Heartbreak Club should be out soon.
