Indian Celebrities Sonam Kapoor and Anuja Chauhan Say, "Books and Cinema Will Always Inspire Each Other"

A discussion by the luminaries about the journey of a book to the big screen at Sharjah International Book Fair 2019   

As part of its #ReadTheMovie initiative, the Sharjah World Book Capital brought books and cinema together on the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019 stage. Author of the best-selling book, The Zoya Factor, Anuja Chauhan accompanied by Sonam Kapoor, the leading lady in the Bollywood film based on Chauhan’s book captivated fans and audiences with insights into their real life experiences and success stories. Both had one thing in common — their undying love of the written word.  

The discussion titled, ‘From Bat, to Book, to Bollywood’, was moderated by presenters Kris Fade and Priti Malik. Both grilled meaty questions on the celebrities’ relationship with books and reading through their formative years, their creative journeys, writers' block and of course, their take on screen adaptations of books.

When Anuja was asked what really made her quit an accomplished 17-year career in advertising for big brands to pursue a career in writing, she responded, “I was always writing plays in school and studied economics in college. Back when I was a student, advertising was somehow considered the most logical career path with my background.”  Continuing to relate to the same, she confessed that she hit a wall with the format of her profession, because there are only 30 seconds to 1 minute to sell a product. It was then that she decided she wanted to quit telling other people’s stories to tell her own. “The books came out of creative frustration; it was so liberating to just keep writing. Then I couldn’t stop”,reckoned Chauhan.

The award winning actress Kapoor commenced her story with an audience confession, “I often stole books from my mother’s library as a child. Any gravitas and depth that I have, is due to the reading that I’ve done in my formative years”.

Sonam also said that its scary for her to see how impatient the digital age has made people, shortened their attention spans and affected their reading habits".

“What’s the legacy you’d like to leave? Something many generations after will remember you by?”, Kris threw the session’s last question at the speakers.

“I really admire Vikram Seth and his work The Suitable Boy; it is his masterpiece. I re-read it so many times and, in my opinion, that is the biggest compliment to any author in the world”,Chauhan says humbly admitting her goal in life was to write something as good as this book.

The audience turned to Kapoor in heavy anticipation and she revealed her desire to cast in the remakes of Indian classics like 'Bandini' and 'Guide'. "Guide has a character called Rosy who is my all-time favourite. She was so ahead of her times. I would love to play such a character. So, story is pivotal to me and even if the role is short, I’ll play”, she said emphasizing that be it a book or a movie, sometimes it’s not the protagonists but the smaller characters that stick and create deeper impact.”

Few questions from the audience:

Question: If you were not an actress, what would you be?

Answer: Indisputably, I would be a librarian and would love to write a book in my free time.

Question: Out of all the characters you have played, which one can you relate the most?

Answer: Every character that you play comes through the filter of you. So, there is something of that character left behind in you and there is something of you in each character. I can relate to Mili's character from the movie 'Khoobsurat' as the closest to myself. She is closest to me as a person, except that I don't dress like her!

Both concurred that the film industry loves to find inspiration in a good book, saying the two art forms of literature and cinema will forever complement each other.