Hidden desires and secret passions

There’s no way I can stop writing…” says Madhuri Banerjee, echoing German-born American writer Charles Bukowski, who famously went on to say: “…it’s a form of insanity.”
National Award winner, blogger, Bollywood screenplay writer, ad film director, relationship expert, columnist and accomplished author, Madhuri Banerjee is now gearing up for the release of her seventh book, Forbidden Desires in January.  

The book revolves around four women living in New Delhi and they know nothing about each other, until one day their worlds collide and they are made to face a shocking truth.

When did the idea for the book germinate?
The book is a peek into the lives of modern Indian housewives who are not afraid to follow their hearts,” says Madhuri, who initially wanted the book to be the second part of her previously published novel, Scandalous Housewives: Mumbai. “But Indian readers aren’t that great with sequels. So the idea for this book was with me since a long time, but I got down to writing it after the release of My Clingy Girlfriend, she says.

What is your antidote to writers’ block?
“I have never had difficulty with ideas; they have always just flown out of me,” she says, adding, “Personally, writing has always been like a divine intervention. I sit down, take a minute and if the sentence is not coming to me, then perhaps it’s not meant to be at that time. Take a break, make yourself a cup of green tea and come back to it when you feel you are ready to write again,” she says.

How do you prevent rejection from turning into dejection?
Even though Madhuri has published seven books and worked with Karishma Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, Kaizad Gustad and Rohan Sippy, she admits that rejections are still a part of her daily routine. “For every one book, I have had 10 rejections,” says Madhuri, adding, “I have ideas for the next five books, but publishers have shot them down saying they won’t sell. India, at present, has this homogeneous ‘easy to read’ style of writing and if a person wants to experiment, it’s going to be very challenging.”

Having confessed to being lucky, as she easily got to publish her first book, Madhuri says it hasn’t been smooth sailing since then. She adds, “Whenever my ideas get rejected, I write it in some way or the other — I write it as a blog, a tweet, a mini book on Kindle and have readers download it for me. Rejection never stops me from putting my words out there.”