Trisha Das’ directorial Fiddlers on the Thatch won the National Film Award in 2005. She was UGA’s ‘International Artist of the Year’ (2003) and has written and directed over 40 documentaries.
She is also the author of books such as The Misters Kuru: A Return to Mahabharata, Kama’s Last Sutra, and Ms Draupadi Kuru: After the Pandavas. Her latest book The Grand Samara, a rom-com, was published in September 2024.
In a candid chat, Trisha talked about her book, her life as an author, and her brother, comedian Vir Das.
What got you interested in writing a rom-com?
Trisha Das: I’ve wanted to write rom-coms since I was a teenager because that’s when I started reading them. My grandmother was a big fan of Georgette Heyer’s books. She collected all of them and passed the collection to my mother, who gave it to me.
I remember going to my grandmother’s house in Patna for my summer holidays as a teenager. There was one AC room in the house, so we’d all sit there and spend two hours in the afternoon reading. And inevitably, we’d all read Georgette Heyer. So, right from when I was a teenager, I wanted to write romances and rom-coms like Georgette Heyer.
Where did you get the idea for The Grand Samara?
Trisha Das: After I finished the Ms Draupadi Kuru series, I thought it was time to go back to my roots and bring romance to the table. I took my favourite Georgette Heyer book, The Grand Sophy, and thought of writing a modern Indian version of it. I was going to take all the ingredients of the Georgette Heyer books I love so much – the humour, the characters, the situations that almost always go wrong, the parties, the picnics – and put them into this novel as well. That’s where the idea came from.
What challenges did you face while writing The Grand Samara?
Trisha Das: I wanted to write romance but didn’t have the experience. I had only written a lot of fantasy and mythology, and I think it was an effort trying to break away from that thinking and go into a world where there was none of that. There was no fantasy, there was no make-believe. There were no magical characters. Everything was real life. So, moving away from the mindset of writing all those fantastical novels was probably challenging.
And what are some of the other challenges of writing books?
Trisha Das: While writing a book, you get writer’s block at least twice. I did, in the middle of the book. The best way to get over it is to power on. You end up writing a boring chapter because you’re struggling – I’ve written some chapters three times; there were some chapters that I scrapped altogether because they were written during writer’s block.
Also, the middle of every book is very challenging because you have to keep the pace going. You have to keep the reader interested. You’re on page 150, and you have to keep the plot moving so they can’t stop turning the pages. I think that’s always a challenge with every book, yet that’s what makes it interesting and fun.
Today, people’s attention spans are decreasing. Does that put added pressure on you as a writer?
Trisha Das: Before I became a writer, I was a reader. I think with everybody else, my attention span, too, has reduced because of consuming a lot of digital content. So, I set myself as the judge of what is interesting and what is not – because I’m going through the same experiences and consuming the same content as my readers. So, I’m pretty sure they would like to read whatever I like to read.
But yes, those days of the old-style books with meandering narratives, going on tangents and multiple perspectives that we were very tolerant of in the past, are over. Readers don’t have patience for it anymore. They want stories that are snappy, edgy, and ultra-modern. They want to see themselves in the books they read, especially when it comes to contemporary rom-coms. They want to put themselves in the character’s shoes. Every woman reading this is going to be a Samara. Every man reading this is going to be a Sharav. You have to reflect a modern sentiment and a modern reader as well.
How long did it take you to finish writing this book?
Trisha Das: The writing process took about four months. But before writing the first draft, I usually plan quite a bit. It takes about a year – six months of planning and four months of writing.
Do you have a set writing routine?
Trisha Das: No matter what I write, I make it a point to write something every day. If I don’t write every day, it becomes difficult to stay engaged, and then life becomes very distracting. When I’m researching or planning a book, I’m writing skeletons, I’m writing backstories, or I’m writing character breakdowns. Sometimes, I’m drawing graphs or doing flowcharts. The hours may vary from day to day, but I always put some time aside for writing.
Do you set the number of pages you need to write every day during the four months of writing the book?
Trisha Das: Yeah, I try to finish 1,500 words a day, on average. There are days when I don’t manage to reach that number and then there are days when I write 2,500. It just depends on the day, depends on what I’ve got going on outside of writing.
Would you like The Grand Samara to be adapted into a series or a film?
Trisha Das: Yeah. There has been quite a bit of interest in this book. I’m talking to a few people about adapting it, so that’s in progress.
What are your favourite rom-coms – books and movies?
Trisha Das: I’ve been a big Hrishikesh Mukherjee fan since I was a kid. Those – Chupke Chupke, Gol Maal, Naram Garam, Bawarchi, and Khubsoorat – are classics in my head. These days there are a lot of amazing rom-coms being made, especially on OTT. I liked Nobody Wants This on Netflix. I also loved Fleabag, Bridgerton, and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. And classic rom-coms, such as Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, Pride and Prejudice.
As for books, I like the works of Ali Hazelwood, Helen Wong, Sonali Dev and Nisha Sharma. Who else? Tessa Bailey, who wrote a lot of Regency romances. Sangu Mandanna, who writes fantasy romances. There are so many.
Has your brother Vir Das read the book?
Trisha Das: He hasn’t read this one. So, no reaction so far. He’s very busy right now.
You both are creative people from the entertainment field. Tell us what your exchanges are like?
Trisha Das: Both of us are creative and create content. If the two of us are talking, usually everybody else gets excluded because we end up being the only two creative people in the room. We talk about our ideas and what we’re doing. We have long conversations and ask for opinions. We brainstorm a lot of ideas as well. We co-wrote a couple of screenplays many years ago. It’s always fun because we think alike and are not afraid to criticise each other. We both have very different tastes in terms of what we like. So, it’s interesting to see how those tastes have changed over the years.
You have made documentaries. Do you want to venture into directing feature films next?
Trisha Das: I have written screenplays in the past and sold them to producers. As far as directing a feature film is concerned, honestly, it’s a very different format to documentaries. I don’t think I’m interested in doing it at this time. I like writing fiction, but different skills are involved in directing fiction – working with actors and all of that stuff. I think I’ll leave that up to the professionals.
What are you going to write next?
Trisha Das: I’ve got two more romcoms in the pipeline. So, hopefully, you’ll be hearing about one of those very soon.