We must not all strive to be a Salman Rushdie: Madhuri Banerjee

Madhuri Banerjee’s books are bestsellers. It rankles her much that publishers and critics tag them under the chick lit label. Losing My Virginity And Other Dumb Ideas went on to sell 50,000 copies and Mistakes Like Love And Sex has already sold 20,000 copies. "Still people won’t invite me to literature festivals as my books are not ‘literary’,” she says. The author responds scathingly to the snobbish implication that the chick lit label mean poorly written books lacking in substance. Excerpts from an interview:

Is chick lit an appropriate genre to approach issues of sexuality, feminism and self-identity?
No, it is not. It is a horrible classification. We need another category for writers who want to write about sexuality, feminism and self-identity that I do with my novels. I sincerely hope the publishing world finds a new classification so I can be slotted into that rather than a chick lit writer.

Though there are several nicely written, warm, funny and insightful examples of chick lit, the quality of the work mostly gets ignored. Does that trouble you?
Yes. It’s actually very sad that people classify books and then, dismiss them. I’m trying to bring about different layers in my books—a sexually repressed society, a search for identity, a need for economic independence, empowering women about their bodies, strife in domestic households between an old era and a new age. If I put all that on the back cover, change the cover to an abstract painting and use a title like ‘Whispering Wind’, I might be taken seriously. But we live in a world where people still judge you for all those factors rather than the content.

Also, my work cannot be just labelled as chick lit. It’s edgy and serious and insightful. No other contemporary author has written about bedroom scenes that are raw, sensuous, and real. I don’t make them erotic but they have a passionate touch to it. I explore women’s desires and men’s needs. In a society where everything is behind closed doors, I am trying to write about what is natural and beautiful. I would not like to be labelled as just another chick lit author and be ignored.

What is the social significance of the chick lit genre?
Any piece of good writing is important. We must not all strive to be a Salman Rushdie. We need to have different voices in society and a nation that accepts those voices as well. Women’s stories are essential to give identification and empowerment to other women.

Do you think that books aimed at women are becoming increasingly homogenised or girly?
Partly. But it’s a vicious cycle. If one book does well then publishers want authors to write the same genre to sell more copies. For example, with the success of the 50 Shades series, all Indian publishers want to venture into the erotica genre. So then, the market is flooded with the same type of books. It has happened the same way with the “girly” books because one book sold well many years ago. That is why I’ve tried to stay clear of usual topics. I may have a female protagonist but that doesn’t mean she has to behave the same way as others.

Love is fine for a classic like Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina, but if the heroine is a modern girl juggling a job and a love life, many turn contemptuous. Why?
The bookstores are flooded with stories on love. The overdose has created an over discerning, jaded buyer. As soon as they see “love” on the cover, they think that one book is as good as the next. I didn’t realise this till my book Mistakes Like Love And Sex came out. I thought it was a quirky title and it was apt with the book that had betrayals, bad boyfriends, and bedroom antics. However, since it has “love”, the reader doesn’t know if it’s the same ol’ story seen on the shelf time after time. But when you go to read my book you will realise that it’s not chick lit. It will be a story you’ve never read before.

You have worked on Bollywood films. How did that influence your fiction?
Working as an assistant director to Subhash Ghai and Kaizad Gustad gave me access to a few Bollywood stars and behind-the-scenes news. I was even an executive producer at Zoom TV, working on a reality show for Miss India. All this was churning in my head when I was writing both my books. Losing My Virginity And Other Dumb Ideas has Kaveri as a participant on a reality show. Mistakes Like Love And Sex has Kaveri becoming a tutor-assistant to a new actress Bela Bandhan, who is an amalgamation of the actresses I’ve worked with. My fiction has to come from a real place otherwise it won’t be believable. I have actually visited Milan, Barcelona and New York that I write about in my books. Hence I can describe it well enough for the readers to visualise it.