Jaipur Literature Festival: Day 4

The fourth day of Jaipur Literature Fest was as bright as the sunny day.

Spicezee Bureau

Jaipur: The fourth day of Jaipur Literature Fest was as bright and interesting as the sunny day. The second last day of the fest saw a surge in the enthusiasm and number of visitors as people got a chance to hob-nob and spend time with the greatest of literary figures of the weekend. The star attractions of the day were Tina Brown’s revelations about Princess Diana’s personal life, Stephen Friar’s admission to being as embarrassed to call himself a ‘writer’ as to calling himself an ‘alcoholic’, and the intriguing tale of literary love in Ireland by Roddy Doyle. Highlights: The art of the anti- thriller: Vikram Chandra with Shoma Chaudhury Best-selling novelist Vikram Chandra discussed the process of writing his best-selling novel, ‘Sacred Games’, described by Shoma Chaudary as ‘more like War and Peace’ than a traditional thriller. Chandra said he had suggested the phrase ‘anti-thriller’ to his publishers, because the novel ‘breaks every rule of the thriller genre’ and he didn’t want to set up expectations that would not be met, including his decision to write ‘another kind of climax’ to his novel rather than the usual climactic gunfight of the thriller genre. Roddy Doyle Unleashed : In a hilarious talk to the captivated audience, Booker Prize winning Irish novelist Roddy Doyle talked engagingly about writing and life in Ireland, joking that ‘the writer’s life is sometimes staring out of a window. People don’t understand that when it looks like you’re doing nothing, you’re actually working furiously.’ The highly respected author talked about his love of Ireland, though he has also faced some criticism for his ‘less than rosy portrayal of domestic life in Ireland, particularly domestic violence, even receiving death threats after the release of his novel Family. However Doyle, who is also a teacher, said he was relieved to see that at least the death threats were not from any of his students, since there were so many spelling mistakes in the letters. The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown and Vir Sanghvi "Tina came down from Oxford and revived the decrepit society magazine, Tatler, made it into a happening magazine," said editor, TV host and food critic Vir Sanghvi in his introduction of legendary editor and author Tina Brown. Brown`s book, The Diana Chronicles was the topic of discussion. Tina Brown justified her choice of chronicling one of the most read celebrities of her time saying, “It is still one of the most compelling stories one could ever address!” In her book Princess Diana is very ‘complicated’, in Sanghvi’s words. Elaborating, Brown said, “She is complex, scheming, mischievous, vain, tender-hearted, quite a sexual girl. She could create a circle of intimacy around a crowd; she was also trouble.” “Diana was desperately lonely and unhappy, and like most celebrities, ended up sleeping with her security detail a year-and-a-half into her marriage to Charles.” Further, Brown said, “Camilla Parker Bowles was the godmother in this Diana and Charles`s relationship. As soon as the glamour entered Diana`s life, she morphed into the most desired woman in the world; Camilla didn`t like that.” Brown believed that of her numerous dalliances, Diana`s affair with Hasnat Khan, a doctor, were the most genuine. “I think Hasnat Khan loved her very much, much more purely than anyone else,” she said. The Director’s Cut: Stephen Frears, Hanif Kureishi, Roddy Doyle and Rachel Holmes The three prestigious screenwriters talked to a completely packed Durbar Hall of their experiences in the film industry and the creative process. Academy-award winning director Stephen Frears, who has directed films of both Kureishi and Doyle’s books, emphasized the importance of being led by a good story and said that he never looked for a subject, remaining passive in the process. “I sit at home and people bring me things,” he said. Kureishi agreed, adding, “It’s always like that. Waiting for the next good idea is like falling in love, it just hits you… so you do have to learn to wait around and believe something will turn up somehow, because you’ve done it before.” Talking of ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, he said, “The aim was to write a film partly about my family and people I knew… but at the same time to could give it a political context.” When asked if any of the writers had any desire to make a Bollywood movie, Doyle joked, ‘I did it already with ‘The Commitments’, his hugely popular film about soul music in Ireland. Frears said that he had become a director by chance. “it was an accident. I was always very reluctant to call myself a writer.” He continued to call himself a teacher until he had published three novels, saying it was as embarrassing an admission as saying you are an alcoholic. They also talked about recent blockbuster ‘The Three Idiots’ and the issue of how much credit the writer should get on a film. Frears said that as the director, he was ‘a kind of parasite’ on the writer’s creation.