Ashwin Sanghi's Blog, page 3

Visit to Kolkata and Delhi, Feb 2012

Rajasthan & Hyderabad Visits, Jan 2012

The Hindu: 'A Thrilling Voice' by Sohini Chakravorty

When it comes to The Godfather, it is difficult to judge whether it is Mario Puzo's edgy book that compliments Francis Ford Coppola film starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino or the way around. Film makers have always found inspiration in popular fiction for their films and the stupendous success of franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight series is a proof of that. Though few Indian fictions has been adapted on the cinematic screen by Hindi film makers in the past, things have changed with the growth in the popular Indian fiction market. Ashwin Sanghi's whose book Chanakya's Chant will be adapted in a Hindi film by UTV Motion Pictures is among authors like Chetan Bhagat, Anuja Chauhan, Amish Tripathi whose books are being adapted into films.

Explaining about the eternal conflict between the written word and the cinematic interpretation he says he is not afraid to experiment with the script and the story, if the film is in the right hands. "An author entices the readers with their words and it is painful for them to even lose a sentence. But films and books are two different mediums and should be dealt differently. What works in a book might not work for a film. When I saw Anna Karenina on screen I didn't like it at all whereas The Godfather was legendary," he adds.

While the author believes that one cannot take liberties with classic characters like Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, but films based on popular fiction definitely increases the reader base. "We can't deny that films have a bigger reach. After the popularity of the Slumdog Millionaire a lot of people started reading Vikas Swarup's Q & A. From a business sense, films are a good tool increase the number of readers," says the businessman turned author.

Ashutosh Gowariker is believed to have been roped to direct the film. Steering clear from issues on credits, Ashwin says, "There are some things like names which are very sacrosanct and I wound not budge on that. But I have already moved on to my next novel and will be involved very little with the script of the film. I will definitely help out whenever required."

Whether in his first book The Rozabal Line or Chanakya's Chant, his books deals with characters from history and mythology. His love for thrillers is translated on print. He says that the story lines don't change but the characters and props keep changing, therefore many interpretation of history and ancient stories are bound to happen. "It is important to retain the original flavours with a graduated shift in storyline. When working on a period it is the finer details that evoke imagery that helps in cinematic adaptations," he says. Apart from his next novel, the author is also working on a screenplay based on his book The Rozabal Line.

His next book will be a fast paced business story spanning across three historical periods – the Mughal, Maratha and the British. "I want to make sure that my writing leaves the readers by the hook," he says.

Film adaptations

l One of the best selling novels of recent years The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi has been picked by Karan Johar's production house Dharma Productions. The announcement has elicited a mixed response from the fans of the Shiva trilogy but many believe that it has the potential to have the cinematic grandeur of the Lord of the Rings.

l Chetan Bhagat is a favourite among Bollywood film makers. After Five Point Someone, One Night @ The Call Centre, his two other novels the film adaption of 3 Mistakes of My Life will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On fame and Vishal Bhardwaj is working on 2 States.

l The filming rights of Anuja Chauhan's chick lit The Zoya Factor is bought by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment but details about the cast and director is not clear.

l Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is one of the most awaited films of 2012. The film boasts of an impressive star cast.

TOI, Hyderabad, Jan 13 2012: 'I'm Not a Movie Buff' by Sarah Salvadore

It's been almost a year since Ashwin Sanghi's second book "Chanakya's Chant" released and entered all major Indian national bestseller lists within a span of two months. But the buzz surrounding the book refuses to die. And it's all thanks to Bollywood. The Yale graduate, who published his first bestseller, "The Rosabal Line" under the pseudonym Shawn Haigins, is excited about the prospect of his book being made into a film, to be directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar. On a whirlwind trip to the city, Sanghi finds time to chat with TOI. Excerpts.

What brings you to the city?
There is a student in ISB who read my book a about year ago. She wrote to me at that time and told me that my book had inspired her to write a manuscript of her own. About three weeks, ago she wrote to me again informing that she had completed her manuscript and found a publisher too. She wanted me to come to the city to launch the book and I couldn't refuse her. Hence the trip to Hyderabad.

Your book, "Chanakya's Chant", is being adapted into a film...
Yes. Siddharth Roy Kapoor from UTV read the book and passed it on to his team saying that he felt it was written in a cinematic style. His team too responded in an overwhelming manner. They unanimously agreed to adapt it into a film. I honestly, did not go out there looking for production houses to adapt my book. It just fell into my lap. I received a call from the production house asking me to come for a meeting and two weeks later, I signed the contract. It was as simple as that.

How do you feel about Ashutosh Gowarikar helming the project?
As far as Ashutosh is concerned, it's totally between the production house and the film maker. I have no clue as to what the understanding between them is or whether they do have an understanding at all. All these things take time to cook. But yes, I did have a chance to chat with Ashutosh during a literary festival. We are a mutual admiration society because I absolutely loved "Jodha Akbar" and he loved reading "Chanakya's Chant".

Are you going to be involved in any capacity with the movie?
No. Although the production house did offer me the chance to co-write the script, the reason for me backing out are various. As a writer, you love every word you've put on paper. And then it becomes tough to take the right decisions in a rational manner. I have read great books which did not translate into great films. "Anna Karenina" and " The Da Vinci Code" is the best examples. But at the same time, you have something like "The Godfather". Mario Puzo's book was nice, but it was the movie which made it a cult classic. A book and a movie are different animals. You need a cinematic perspective to be involved in the motion pictures. And this is something I lack.

Since you've fleshed out each character in the book, whom would you like to see playing the main protagonist?
Actually, I'm not much of a movie buff myself. My attention span is very limited and I watch just one or two movies a year. So, I have never thought about the actors who could play the different characters from my book.

This whole trend of adapting books of Indian authors into films has been on the rise. What do you make of it?
I think it's a healthy trend. I hope it carries on. Over a period of time, hopefully there will be a better structure of arriving at an agreement between the writer and the production house because that is one area where we have had a lot of heartburn for no rhyme and reason. If those things were contractually obligated in a better way, then we won't have so many issues later. Cinema has matured too. We are moving away from the formula culture. Today, there is a huge appetite for different stories. That's where the books of Indian authors come in.

How do you rate yourself as a writer?
I'm getting there (laughs). For me, the critical element is if I can keep the reader hooked to a story. I even pay attention to stuff like chapter length and if I feel it's too long, I cut it short. I'm not the type to write, sit back and admire my prose. I want my writing to reach people. I don't write for a market. I write from my heart, something that appeals to me. The marketing, segmenting etc., can be done by your publisher, not you.

IBNLive: 'Calling on the Machiavelli of India' by

Think Chanakya and the first thing that would pop into anybody's mind is the work Arthashastra. Considered as the architect of emperor Chandragupta Maurya's rise to power, the simply-dressed hermit looking man is somebody that not many would give a second thought to.
However, author Ashwin Sanghi's fascination for the clear brilliance and fore-thought of the man coupled with his ever-imaginative mind brought forth the book Chanakya's Chant.
Set in two separate era's, the book tells the story of Chanakya's scheming genius that sets Chandragupta on the emperor's throne. Two and a half millennia later, a Brahmin teacher Gangasagar Mishra rises to the same heights of cunning and conniving in the hopes of steering his ward, an intelligent slumchild to the same pedestal that the Maurya king was placed upon. But will he succeed? As the book blurb reads, will Chanakya's chant work again?
"The man was a genius. He was magnificently ahead of his times. While we live in an age where we think twice about accepting things like prostitution, Chanakya had listed out a set of rules and guidelines that would govern the brothels of that age. He had concoctions listed out with specific ingredients and quantities for cocktails to avoid and check adulterated liquor. He planned roads such that there was enough space for one chariot to out-maneuver another while not blocking the way for a chariot coming in the opposite direction. We barely see such thoughtfulness in out modern society. The maximum we plan for is five years ahead," exclaimed the author.
The two-novel old author is a business-man by day time and a writer by night. Part of the family business since he was about 16 and having graduated from Yale at the age of 22, took to writing around the year 2005. His first novel Rozabal Line was released under the pseudonym Shawn Haigins. At this point its interesting to note that the Rozabal line fictionally speculated about Jesus surviving the crucification and settling down in India. So ask him if there was any particular reason that his pseudonym somehow ended up sounding more Christian than intended and he smilingly replies, "My family had no idea I was writing. Hence the pseudonym. I wanted it to be as far-fetched and remote from who I really was. I guess writing for me, had become a form of rebellion and it was my own time on my own computer with my own story. Plus, Shawn Haigins was the most convenient anagram for my name."
Talking about his book and his inspiration, he says, "Chanakya was the perfect grey character - one never really knew where he stood. The relevance of that grey character and the Arthashastra is so strong in today's world, I couldn't help but write based on it. It was in 2009 actually the idea for the story came about when I saw the politics that was occurring between Karunanidhi and Sonia Gandhi. It took so long to form the government, I was astounded."
"Politics hasn't changed much in all these years and that is where the idea to juxtapose Chanakya's period with that of Gangasagar came from."
Considering that Sanghi was the master of the story, it was interesting to see that when he applied the Chanakya equation to the present, he chose to do it in a similar format of a kingpin egging his pawns on the chessboard and not have the main character both practise and preach to himself.
"I believe Chanakya's greatest flaw was that he was extremely chauvinistic. To counter that, I had Gangasagar choose a girl as his road to success."
Well, whether his final act does justice to the Hindu Machiavelli or not, there's only one way to find out.

HT, 31 Dec 2011: Chanakya's Chant in Top-10 bestsellers of 2011

Since May this year, readers of HT Read have been tracking the bestsellers in the Indian book market through AC Nielsen's Bookscan Top 10 list. In the period since the Nielsen Bookscan India panel set up shop (October 2010), the number of retailers from whom they cull data and sales figures have grown three-fold. On the last day of 2011, HT sheds some light on writers and publishers who got lucky, selling the maximum number of fiction and non-fiction titles in the 12 months from January 2011 to December 2011.

FICTION

1. Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat (Rupa)
2. The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi (Westland)
3. The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi (Westland)
4. 2 States by Chetan Bhagat (Rupa)
5. Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer (Pan)
6. Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi (Westland)
7. The Three Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat (Rupa)
8. I Too Had a Love Story by Ravinder Singh (Srishti)
9. Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat (Rupa)
10. Life is What You Make It by Preeti Shenoy (Srishti)

NON-FICTION

1. I Have a Dream by Rashmi Bansal (Westland)
2. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (Little, Brown)
3. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish by Rashmi Bansal (IIM)
4. Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight by Rujuta Diwekar (Random House)
5. Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha by Rujuta Diwekar (Westland)
6. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis (Goyal)
7. Connect the Dots by Rashmi Bansal (IIM)
8. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma (Jaico)
9. Corporate Chanakya by Radhakrishnan Pillai (Jaico)
10. The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Fourth Estate)

TOI, Dec 25, 2011: The Retell Market, by Archana Khare Ghose

Fantasy fiction as a genre is one of the most unexplored in Indian writing and if good story tellers continue to pay it serious attention, there is no reason why there can't be more celeb young authors like Ashwin Sanghi and Amish. Sanghi's Chanakya Chant, published last year, has sold 1,00,000 copies so far and has opened the door for many more such out-ofthe-box views on our luxuriant history.

Sanghi, who is on a sabbatical in Goa these days writing his next book, says that it was the machinations for seats of power during the formation of UPA II in 2009 that inspired Chanakya's Chant. "The goings-on were so evocative of Chanakya the historical character that this story started brewing in my mind," he says. And if Chanakya can be a hit, then why can't Akbar or some forgotten tale of the rich court lives of the Mughals, or may be the Cholas, or even those closer to us in time than the 3rd century BC architect of the Maurya empire? One of the best books ever written in this genre is The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor, a text that extrapolated the past and the present of the Mahabharata brilliantly.