First published in Verve, June 2015
If you’re a fan of Anuja Chauhan’s works, you would be familiar with the premise of The House That BJ Built (THTBB), a sequel to her popular title, Those Pricey Thakur Girls. THTBB is, as the title suggests, about the Thakur House on Delhi’s Hailey Road which, as per the patriarch’s last wish, is to be sold off. You’ll fall in love with Bonu Singh, his feisty granddaughter, who will remind you of that cracker of a friend you always admired for her spunk. Like Chauhan’s earlier works, this one is filled with humour, drama and love.
Is it tougher for a writer to match the reader’s expectations in a sequel?
I think there are arguments for both sides. There are characters that people have loved and liked, so hopefully they’ll come back to you because they want more. On the other hand, it’s a bit like being the son of a superstar. If you fail, then everyone jumps down your throat. It’s definitely tougher to write a sequel. I didn’t realise till I actually sat down to do so. There are so many people you are in love with, you want to give closure to everyone, and it’s hard.
Who is your favourite character from THTBB – the one you enjoyed creating the most?
Bonu Singh, the heroine. She’s my favourite. Because she’s more fun than the girls I’ve written before, I feel. She’s very insecure and very voluptuous and she has her own strange moral code. Lots of people may not buy into that or think that’s politically correct.
Some reviews and articles have called you an ‘Indian Jane Austen’ and ‘India’s best Rom-Com writer’. How do such comments impact your work?
That kind of stuff you usually tune out. Whatever pressures we have are always self-imposed and come from your closer circle, not because someone said something. Eventually, you try to keep the process creative and you have your own set of things that put pressure on you. I realise that today they’re calling someone the ‘best rom-com writer’, tomorrow it’ll be someone else. As you have more books you have more things to measure against, rather than what people are saying. I don’t consciously think of all these labels.
Do your stories reflect the India you see around you or the India/ Indians of your imagination?
It’s a bit of both. There’s a heightened reality, a little embroidery and a little cheating you do. I tend to milk things for humour a little more. If I see something in real life and put it into a book, it would get a little more absurd and a little funnier than it was when it happened.
How important is a happy ending in literature? Do you ever think you can write a book without a happily ever after?
I think it’s more about closure — I hate books that leave me hanging. I want to know what happened, even if it’s a tragic ending. But I like books where the obstacles people face or the inner demons they set out to defeat, they confront and defeat them. Beyond that, I don’t mind if they die. I think whatever it is that you set out to do, you should achieve that or die trying.
What’s next?
I’m done with the Thakurs of Hailey Road. For the moment I’m currently very much in love with the 50s. So I may do a book about Dylan’s parents. I mean, in Pricey… they elope on a motorcycle. He’s in the army and she’s this little Catholic girl. Maybe I will not do anything with it. I may do a prequel but definitely not something going forward.
The House That BJ Built is published by Westland Books.
Huzan Tata 