Conspiracy theories

Apart from the fact that they are scriptwriters, Anshul Vijayvargiya and Debashish Irengbam have another thing in common —– both of them have written scripts for a number of crime thriller shows. So, it was kind of a given that when they decided to co-author a book, it would be a crime thriller as well. Tune For The Dead follows Detective Dhruv who is hired in a murder case but finds himself in a much bigger conspiracy than he expected.  

“It began with an interesting one-line in our heads as we were brainstorming on possible ideas to develop into a book. And even though we have done ample screenwriting as a team for years, this was our first collaboration together as authors so we knew it had to be something spectacular enough to excite us both,” they say. The co-authors speak about the book...

The book was quite pacy, specially the action sequences. With your background, does the visual quality seeps in on its own? Also, would you want to see the book turn into a movie/show?

Yes, we do think our screen writing backgrounds helped a lot in the narrative as screen writing as a craft caters to an audio-visual medium of storytelling. 

Everything has to be seen and heard on screen so you have to write accordingly, and we believe that reflects in the book too. Having said that, screen writing is also an elaborate process and a good screen writer leaves nothing to imagination for the technicians and actors. 

We have completed the movie screenplay of the book and will begin pitching it shortly. 

There are many famous detective mysteries. Are there any that you particularly enjoy?

Debashish: The most recent detective figure I have been awestruck by is Jessica Jones from the Netflix series. I know she isn’t what comes to mind for most people when they think of the detective genre, considering the overlap with the superhero genre her genesis falls in. However, I love the way in which they mix the noir themes of a reclusive anti-social detective with her own set of inner demons. Couple that with a compelling antagonist, a riveting plot, and a healthy dose of superhuman strength, and you have me hooked from the word go. 

Anshul: The great Hercule Poirot — the tiny, ordinary looking man, whose extra-ordinary powers stem from his grey cells. His acute understanding of human behaviour along with unparalleled observational skill and unshakeable integrity make him one of the finest detectives. He is also sensitive towards human emotions and often gets deeply pained to see the loss of humanity, in spite of seeing the worst kinds of people and crimes in his career in police force and later as a detective. My love for Byomkesh Bakshi is the closest match to Monsieur Poirot.

What’s next?

We have started working on the next book in the series of Detective Dhruv Mysteries. It is going to be very different from this one and will take Dhruv in realms beyond his comprehension. Other than that, our film industry careers keep us busy as well.