On day one, audience discovers writers' muse

The first day of Pune International Literary Festival (PILF) lived up to its expectations with a great combination of readers, authors, filmmakers and publishers attending the event. The day was divided into three sessions of one hour each. Each session included three interactive discussions with authors, film-makers and writers.

Bank on Banker
Author Ashok Banker stood out with his witty interaction and discussion with writer Kanika Dhillon. He was prompt with his replies to the questions asked by attendees and did not mince his words. When questioned about how he feels about authors who have started to write on mythology years after he wrote his first, he said, “You want to know if I am jealous of Amish, then yes I am! But that doesn’t mean I sit and look at other’s success and count my recognitions. I am primarily a film and television child but have seen success in books too. So, I know eventually everything balances out.” He spoke of how all his characters are a part of him and he does not intend to challenge faith or religion when it comes to his works

Concepts revealed
Marrying high concept novels with high concept films was an interesting topic which had Siddhartha Jain, Kanika Dhillon and Naved Aslam on the panel. The audience questioned the criteria of high concept films and novels. Moushumi Basu, a participant in the session, wanted to know how does one define a high concept story. To which Jain said, “Creativity is a norm now. High concept films are about the idea and concept irrespective of the star cast or director. For example: Harry Potter series or the recent super hero series.”

Flashback magic
DIG Brijesh Singh and author Khushwant Singh Ahluwaliaa spilled details on their respective books with author Hussain Zaidi. The trio seemed comfortable with each other and spoke at length about their research and experiences. Singh and Ahluwaliaa discussed historical fiction as a genre and brought in excerpts from their books to support the same. Ahluwaliaa said, “My book Maharaj in Denims talks about an 18-year-old who gets visual flashes of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. I also underwent past life regression to bring about the finer nuances in my story.” Singh’s book talks about the era 100 years after Ashoka’s reign and death. “It came through when I was researching to find my own roots. One day someone suggested I might as well document my research and findings. So, here is how my book was born.”