Sonia Faleiro
Thursday, June 23, 2005
"It's Possible my Mother and Mahesh Bhatt had a Liaison Without Him Knowing"
Excerpts from an inteview with author Ashok K. Banker.
You emerge only when your books are released, but are inaccessible otherwise.
I don’t think pr does shit to sell books. Even if it did, I still wouldn’t do it. As a writer you should write the best damn book, and for me to do that, I need isolation. I don’t talk to the press because doing so when one has nothing to say is trivial pursuit at its worst.
Your reticence extends to the Mumbai literary circle. Mixing with them is not PR.
Well, it is. Look at contemporary Mumbai writers. They are all part of this artsy-fartsy circle, a clique of people who meet once a week to support and promote one another. They are so heavily into pr themselves, yet they criticise other writers, and accuse them of drumming up publicity.
You’ve been accused of manipulating the press with regard to the advance you received for your Ramayana series.
How can a guy sitting in a flat in Mumbai manipulate the media machinery of the entire country? And why does my advance matter? At the time, The Week asked me about it, but it was premature. I had signed the German and US contracts, but was in the process of signing the UK film and language contracts. I said, “I can give you a specific answer in three months but it has passed Rs 1 crore and could be as much as Rs 10 crore.” Today, I can confirm that the advance for all six books has crossed Rs 3 crore but is less than Rs 4 crore. All the contracts have still not been signed though.
The controversy generated great dislike against you across the board. Why do you think that happened?
Very simply put, I told journalists to screw off. I told them if you only want to talk about the advance, get lost. Bombay Times wanted to shoot me in a dhoti, with a bow and arrow, on Marine Drive. I turned them down, and they said, “But we’re bt. bt is bt.” (Laughs) And you know what cnbc wanted? To sit at Bandra Bandstand, reading from my Ramayana, for a story titled ‘Flogging a Dead Horse’! For which they would interview people asking, why the hell do we need another Ramayana. (Laughs). I’m nobody’s whipping boy.
Do you regret your reaction?
It’s stupid to play with the media like that. I don’t do it anymore. But because they hated my guts they left me alone to write. I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’ve had fools reviewing my books without reading them. Someone said Byculla Boy was about the ad world when it’s about a kid growing up in Byculla in the 1970s. I’m far more critical of my work than any critic. I don’t think I’m a very talented writer, but I have passion. What I lack in stylistic or linguistic dexterity, and sheer artistry, I make up for with fecundity, fire, and feel. I don’t write for money. Otherwise, I’d still be writing thrillers.
You have an aversion for foreign media.
Yes, I’ve refused a Washington Post Book World cover feature, an interview with Salon, and The New York Times. I didn’t want to become one of those writers who panders to the foreign press and fights with the Indian press. Pankaj Mishra is a very good example. He writes so much for the foreign press his perspective is stilted. He’s very conscious, stylised and very mannered. I don’t want to become like that.
You must be a lonely writer.
It does get extremely lonely. I long for the company of other writers, if only to discuss things like how the hell do you deal with an agent? But there’s no guarantee they will respond to me. I would have to put myself out on a limb. Sometimes, this loneliness turns to animosity and hostility. I become a porcupine and porcupines are lonely creatures.
Vertigo was "the" Bombay book. Now Maximum City and Shantaram are.
It's an affectation of the media to name "the" Bombay book according to which writer is in the news. Gregory David Roberts is very willing to pander to the press. Ditto with Suketu Mehta. I read something very interesting in Tehelka, where Vidhu Vinod Chopra talks about his dislike for Suketu. Why didn't other journalists write about it? Because they want to interview Suketu again. If an author is willing to be on Page Three their book is a bestseller.
You had a Hindu father and a Catholic mother. How did that affect you?
I fell through the crack. My father's family would say, "his mother's a meat eater." And my mother's family would refer to me as "that Hindu boy." My mother converted to Islam to get a divorce. Then she remarried and that ended too. Till her death she tried to keep in touch with all three faiths. She had reached a point when things happened to her--she got pregnant by Mahesh Bhatt and had to have an abortion, then she was drugged and raped. I know who raped her. I was the only person she could talk to who wasn't part of society in the larger sense. After the rape she descended into psychosis. She was in nursing homes, and when she came home I was the one cleaning and feeding her. She was a mess, and I was regarded as a "poor kid," then a roadside chokra, a drug addict and a punk. People who knew me then are shocked my sanity survived. But my mother was so crazy, I became sane by default.
Your first film Beautiful Ugly is her biography. Does the reaction concern you?
When she died, people insinuated that she deserved what came to her. They can't say anything worse. I want people to know that she was wonderful and bright and full of life. And someone abused her and abused me, and destroyed us. And I want that to be known. I want to set the record straight.
Have you spoken to Mahesh Bhatt?
No. He was smashed in those days. It's very possible that my mother and he had some kind of liaison without him knowing. I don't need any closure from him. He's a footnote in the story.
There must be some resentment towards your mother.
No. There was no space for anger. What I resented was that our families wrote me and my mother off. They dismissed us as though we would magically vanish. I resent that after I got a little fame I got calls from cousins in England and Australia and Santa Cruz. My father didn't give me money to buy my mother a coffin and my step-father washed his hands off us. What kind of family is this?
(Tehelka, July 2)
Please visit his blog for the background to why he's been in the news this past week.
You emerge only when your books are released, but are inaccessible otherwise.
I don’t think pr does shit to sell books. Even if it did, I still wouldn’t do it. As a writer you should write the best damn book, and for me to do that, I need isolation. I don’t talk to the press because doing so when one has nothing to say is trivial pursuit at its worst.
Your reticence extends to the Mumbai literary circle. Mixing with them is not PR.
Well, it is. Look at contemporary Mumbai writers. They are all part of this artsy-fartsy circle, a clique of people who meet once a week to support and promote one another. They are so heavily into pr themselves, yet they criticise other writers, and accuse them of drumming up publicity.
You’ve been accused of manipulating the press with regard to the advance you received for your Ramayana series.
How can a guy sitting in a flat in Mumbai manipulate the media machinery of the entire country? And why does my advance matter? At the time, The Week asked me about it, but it was premature. I had signed the German and US contracts, but was in the process of signing the UK film and language contracts. I said, “I can give you a specific answer in three months but it has passed Rs 1 crore and could be as much as Rs 10 crore.” Today, I can confirm that the advance for all six books has crossed Rs 3 crore but is less than Rs 4 crore. All the contracts have still not been signed though.
The controversy generated great dislike against you across the board. Why do you think that happened?
Very simply put, I told journalists to screw off. I told them if you only want to talk about the advance, get lost. Bombay Times wanted to shoot me in a dhoti, with a bow and arrow, on Marine Drive. I turned them down, and they said, “But we’re bt. bt is bt.” (Laughs) And you know what cnbc wanted? To sit at Bandra Bandstand, reading from my Ramayana, for a story titled ‘Flogging a Dead Horse’! For which they would interview people asking, why the hell do we need another Ramayana. (Laughs). I’m nobody’s whipping boy.
Do you regret your reaction?
It’s stupid to play with the media like that. I don’t do it anymore. But because they hated my guts they left me alone to write. I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’ve had fools reviewing my books without reading them. Someone said Byculla Boy was about the ad world when it’s about a kid growing up in Byculla in the 1970s. I’m far more critical of my work than any critic. I don’t think I’m a very talented writer, but I have passion. What I lack in stylistic or linguistic dexterity, and sheer artistry, I make up for with fecundity, fire, and feel. I don’t write for money. Otherwise, I’d still be writing thrillers.
You have an aversion for foreign media.
Yes, I’ve refused a Washington Post Book World cover feature, an interview with Salon, and The New York Times. I didn’t want to become one of those writers who panders to the foreign press and fights with the Indian press. Pankaj Mishra is a very good example. He writes so much for the foreign press his perspective is stilted. He’s very conscious, stylised and very mannered. I don’t want to become like that.
You must be a lonely writer.
It does get extremely lonely. I long for the company of other writers, if only to discuss things like how the hell do you deal with an agent? But there’s no guarantee they will respond to me. I would have to put myself out on a limb. Sometimes, this loneliness turns to animosity and hostility. I become a porcupine and porcupines are lonely creatures.
Vertigo was "the" Bombay book. Now Maximum City and Shantaram are.
It's an affectation of the media to name "the" Bombay book according to which writer is in the news. Gregory David Roberts is very willing to pander to the press. Ditto with Suketu Mehta. I read something very interesting in Tehelka, where Vidhu Vinod Chopra talks about his dislike for Suketu. Why didn't other journalists write about it? Because they want to interview Suketu again. If an author is willing to be on Page Three their book is a bestseller.
You had a Hindu father and a Catholic mother. How did that affect you?
I fell through the crack. My father's family would say, "his mother's a meat eater." And my mother's family would refer to me as "that Hindu boy." My mother converted to Islam to get a divorce. Then she remarried and that ended too. Till her death she tried to keep in touch with all three faiths. She had reached a point when things happened to her--she got pregnant by Mahesh Bhatt and had to have an abortion, then she was drugged and raped. I know who raped her. I was the only person she could talk to who wasn't part of society in the larger sense. After the rape she descended into psychosis. She was in nursing homes, and when she came home I was the one cleaning and feeding her. She was a mess, and I was regarded as a "poor kid," then a roadside chokra, a drug addict and a punk. People who knew me then are shocked my sanity survived. But my mother was so crazy, I became sane by default.
Your first film Beautiful Ugly is her biography. Does the reaction concern you?
When she died, people insinuated that she deserved what came to her. They can't say anything worse. I want people to know that she was wonderful and bright and full of life. And someone abused her and abused me, and destroyed us. And I want that to be known. I want to set the record straight.
Have you spoken to Mahesh Bhatt?
No. He was smashed in those days. It's very possible that my mother and he had some kind of liaison without him knowing. I don't need any closure from him. He's a footnote in the story.
There must be some resentment towards your mother.
No. There was no space for anger. What I resented was that our families wrote me and my mother off. They dismissed us as though we would magically vanish. I resent that after I got a little fame I got calls from cousins in England and Australia and Santa Cruz. My father didn't give me money to buy my mother a coffin and my step-father washed his hands off us. What kind of family is this?
(Tehelka, July 2)
Please visit his blog for the background to why he's been in the news this past week.
:: posted by Sonia Faleiro, 7:17 PM
13 Comments:
Enjoyed reading this interview - Banker cuts the b/s and tells it like it is. A refreshing change from the tiresome niceities that emanate from most other writers -intent mainly on favorable media coverage (does the raggedy Bbay Times even count as 'media' btw?). Thanks also for the link to Banker's blog - I was moved by his experience - truth really is stranger that fiction in his case. Shall watch out for the film and wish him great success.
Suresh
Suresh
Hi Sonia,
Wandered into your blog through the Jabberwock's. Some excellent reading here - the choice of material and superb quality remind me of the writing on Salon.
Wishing you the best!
Anurag Pandey
Wandered into your blog through the Jabberwock's. Some excellent reading here - the choice of material and superb quality remind me of the writing on Salon.
Wishing you the best!
Anurag Pandey
interesting post!
some interview. rare honesty in these times.
btw, you have a link on your start page, 'on ashok banker' but it doesn't go anyplace. other links seem work fine though, just that one. did you remove it?
stree
btw, you have a link on your start page, 'on ashok banker' but it doesn't go anyplace. other links seem work fine though, just that one. did you remove it?
stree
Thanks Stree, have fixed it.
Hi Sonia,
Ashok here. As I said to you by sms after I read your interview with me in Tehelka, thanks for an honest piece. This is one of the rare occasions where a journalist actually asked good, tough questions, and listened to the honest answers, then reported them as I spoke them, instead of watering them down like cheap sherry.
I always cut through the BS and tell it like it is. But you're one of the first reporters to actually report it like I told it.
I'm told it's rare for anyone to be as honest as I am - I say, that's BS too. But I agree that it's certainly rare for a journalist to report as honestly as you did. Now all you need to do is clone yourself a few hundred times and replace all those wretches in...virtually every damn publication in the country!
Strength to your writing arm!
Best wishes
Ashok Banker
Ashok here. As I said to you by sms after I read your interview with me in Tehelka, thanks for an honest piece. This is one of the rare occasions where a journalist actually asked good, tough questions, and listened to the honest answers, then reported them as I spoke them, instead of watering them down like cheap sherry.
I always cut through the BS and tell it like it is. But you're one of the first reporters to actually report it like I told it.
I'm told it's rare for anyone to be as honest as I am - I say, that's BS too. But I agree that it's certainly rare for a journalist to report as honestly as you did. Now all you need to do is clone yourself a few hundred times and replace all those wretches in...virtually every damn publication in the country!
Strength to your writing arm!
Best wishes
Ashok Banker
Wonderful interview. It is rare to read something so honest and well-written in an Indian paper.
I dont want to comment on the interview. But on your recent series of Ramayana. I ve never read any such thing in my life . I am currently reading the fourth one - Armies of hanuman. All 4 books are amazing. good work. Keep It up. How many more are left in the series?
saleena sharme
saleena sharme
Sonia, I enjoyed your interview with Ashok Banker. Long may he hold out against the blandishments of PR, but I am glad he did some, or I'd never have heard of his books.
I finally got the third volume in the series. Delhi booksellers said it was banned by the BJP for a while - true?
Banker is right on about his family. Kudos to him that he saw through their coming around after his fame.
Warmly,
Shauna
www.ShaunaSinghBaldwin.com
I finally got the third volume in the series. Delhi booksellers said it was banned by the BJP for a while - true?
Banker is right on about his family. Kudos to him that he saw through their coming around after his fame.
Warmly,
Shauna
www.ShaunaSinghBaldwin.com
Ashok, and Dwarf thank you.
Shauna: I never heard about the ban, which is just as well. Silliness of this sort should be ignored by the media, the writer, and readers. I do know that Ashok's books do brisk business, and are always to be found in stores, which says a lot.
Shauna: I never heard about the ban, which is just as well. Silliness of this sort should be ignored by the media, the writer, and readers. I do know that Ashok's books do brisk business, and are always to be found in stores, which says a lot.
I wonder if we can live among others and not communicate.
If we can't then would all such communication constitute PR?
How do you Relate with Public without doing PR?
If we can't then would all such communication constitute PR?
How do you Relate with Public without doing PR?
Sonia,
Hi. Someone visited my new blogsite recently and mentioned that you had a link to my old (now defunct) blog "Indian English". Truth be told, due to a silly mistake on my part while moving to ftp upload, some squatter got hold of the indianenglish.blogspot.com address and so it isn't mine any more.
If you wish, you could link to my current 'official' site and blog at http://www.ashokbanker.com .
And I'm so kicked to see the comment from Shauna Singh Baldwin up here, though it must be from a couple of years ago. I'm a huge fan of her writing!
Thanks, and all the best for the talk and reading with Samit at David Sassoon this week.
Ashok
Hi. Someone visited my new blogsite recently and mentioned that you had a link to my old (now defunct) blog "Indian English". Truth be told, due to a silly mistake on my part while moving to ftp upload, some squatter got hold of the indianenglish.blogspot.com address and so it isn't mine any more.
If you wish, you could link to my current 'official' site and blog at http://www.ashokbanker.com .
And I'm so kicked to see the comment from Shauna Singh Baldwin up here, though it must be from a couple of years ago. I'm a huge fan of her writing!
Thanks, and all the best for the talk and reading with Samit at David Sassoon this week.
Ashok
I think Ashok Banker is brilliant. I am an Indian writer myself and get a little peevish when I have to do any PR. Banker is very refreshing.
