Vinod Pande known for his films like Ek Baar Phir and Sach is back in a new avatar - this time as a writer. The filmmaker has authored a book called Don's Wife, a story of forbidden love born out of crucible of crime! "The don's wife doesn't know that the man she has fallen for and is married to, is the son of the most dreaded gangster of the country," says Pande. The story has three main protagonists, the don, his wife and a bodyguard. Inspired by a real-life don, whose wife was assassinated, it follows Kamini who is a beautiful and dynamic woman. She goes through questionable relationships, but has great dignity and is a woman of substance, says Pande. "The book will take you to spaces which are not only dangerous but raise acute emotions. It questions moral values and validity of relationships in more ways than one," adds the filmmaker, whose films have known to be bold exploring complex man-woman relationships. In fact, even the story of Don's Wife featured in one episode of his TV series. "It was aired on a not-so-popular channel then so not many know about it. I always felt woh kahani adhuri reh gayi and started scripting it as a film titled Don, Biwi Aur Bodyguard. Around that time Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster released, so I abandoned my script as people would think my film is inspired from that!" says Pande.
Ask him what prompted him to write a book and he says after his last film Chalo Movie that did not find a distributor, he went into a depression. It was his first foray into comedy but the film never released because it was a small film and starred Rajpal Yadav, Divya Dutta, Manoj Joshi and Sayali Bhagat. "That's when a colleague, who was my assistant suggested I write a book. He told me 'your scripts are so detailed they read like a novel'. I had already started authoring a book called Beyond Frontiers on the Indian diaspora. My friend asked me to leave that and write something in the commercial space; that's how Don's Wife happened," explains the filmmaker-turned-writer.
Pande found a publisher after a year and five rejections. The director is amazed at the amount of time it took to release the book even after it was ready. "Making a movie is easier," he exclaims. The book is already on the stands but Pande is not happy with the distribution. "I have had to really push it myself," he laments.
However, the filmmaker is now taken up with his new vocation and is on to his next book Savari - The Concubine's Story. "When you are making a film there are encumbrances of space, money, and reaching the right target audience. When you are writing a book, you feel free and discover yourself. It's therapeutic," he says. That doesn't mean the filmmaker has retired from films. "I haven't hung up my boots. I am scripting a film Din Ke Andherein Mein, which will have an international appeal," he says. What about turning Don's Wife into a film? Says Pande, "It's a very visual book and has every element you need in a big film today, but it is beyond me. It calls for very big actors and has to be made lavishly. Handling that is not easy, it needs a big producer and somebody else to direct it."
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