Debutante author Kanika Dhillon's first novel is about an aspiring filmmaker from Amritsar who lands in Mumbai to tell her stories, but ends up on the parapet of her balcony a year later, contemplating suicide. Is Bollywood as bad as it is made out to be, we ask the author and Om Shanti Om assistant director
Debutante author Kanika Dhillon's first novel is about an aspiring filmmaker from Amritsar who lands in Mumbai to tell her stories, but ends up on the parapet of her balcony a year later, contemplating suicide. Is Bollywood as bad as it is made out to be, we ask the author and Om Shanti Om assistant director
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Every Mumbaiite knows that Bombay Duck is a fish, but for first-time visitors, it becomes an apt metaphor for the way the city stumps them silly, says first-time author Kanika Dhillon.
Not surprisingly, it inspired the title of her debut novel that hits stands by the end of the month. 
Kanika Dhillon
Bombay Duck is a Fish charts the journey of Neki Brar, a 25 year-old top scoring MBA graduate from Amristar, who comes to Mumbai since she'd rather make films than market toothpaste. It starts rather dramatically with the protagonist sitting on a parapet of a wall contemplating suicide, after a failed relationship with an actor.
Dhillon, who is also from Amristar, left London in 2006 to work in Bollywood. The 28 year-old began as assistant director on the sets of Farah Khan's 2006 film Om Shanti Om, and followed it up with Irrfan Khan-starrer Billu in 2008.
Dhillon then turned to scriptwriting and worked on superstar Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming magnum opus Ra.One. She now heads the Creative Content division for his production house Red Chillies Entertainment.
In a freewheeling interview with Sunday MiDDAY, Dhillon tells us how her book tracks the underbelly of Bollywood ufffd from "the drivers and spot dadas to overworked assistant directors" ufffd to reveal the difficulty of negotiating the big bad world of Hindi cinema.
Is the book autobiographical?
I don't have a failed relationship with an actor to boast of, but the book is autobiographical to an extent. It is set in the industry I've worked in for five years, so the experiences and characters are drawn from my life.
Like me, Neki makes the journey from small town Amritsar to Bollywood, with a lot of dreams and expectations that undergo rapid revision, as she comes to term with the realities of this business.
When I arrived here, I too stayed as a paying guest and all my teammates on the film set were 'outsiders' to Mumbai. So it was easy to write about the struggle to survive in this city, and in the industry. Neki'su00a0 quirks ufffd the nuances of someone from small town India ufffd were familiar.
But the plot is fictional.
Why does the protagonist want to kill herself?
Neki's journey in Bollywood leaves her frustrated. She is unable to achieve the dream she came to the city with. The book starts with her sitting on her parapet, drunk, and thinking about her past, because she has planned to jump off at dawn in time for the early morning joggers to find her body before the neighbourhood dogs do (Neki is mortified of dogs).
She then begins to read a diary that records all that's unfolded in her life in the last year. That act helps her understand how her life hasn't been a complete waste.
The undertone of the novel is of reflection.
So, between the diary entries and the author's voice describing her moment on the parapet, we only get to see her perspective.
That's right, and that was the most difficult part of writing this novel. I know her character is coloured, prejudiced and one-sided, but I couldn't explain this to the reader by using another character's perspective.
The tricky part was to show how although the story is about Neki, her perspective isn't the only one, or necessarily the right one.
Neki is not your typical protagonist. She lies, she cheats, she betrays people ufffd definitely not someone you'd want to look up to.
So she's not a victim who gets tainted by Bollywood? Most films tend to depict small town protagonists as victims of this industry.
Well, Neki is a pretty flawed character to begin with, but she imbibes much from the dirty environment of Bollywood. In the end, she realises she has to pay for her shortcomings. She's not a victim nor does she see herself as one. I only hope that the reader isn't too judgmental.
What was your experience of Bollywood?
I left a cushy job in London to make films. For the longest time, my job on the sets was to take print-outs, make coffee and handle the egos of the first, second and third assistant directors. I had to cut through a number of people to get to the people who mattered. It's sad but true ufffd youngsters come to Bollywood with the hope that they'll get to make films but that's the last thing they get to do.
It's a lie when people say connections don't matter. If you don't have a Kapoor after your name, it's very difficult to make it on your own, since Bollywood works on connections and clans.
Everyone needs to go through this ritual of facing the humiliation and rejection to learn lessons. At least, every new filmmaker without connections, does.
What lessons are you referring to?
The first was not to stand in front of the camera while it was rolling. Ultimately, it's all about knowing the nuances of a frame, and what makes a scene tick.
The assistant director has a varied job profile. Your job could easily be to knock on the door and say, 'Madam, your shot is ready' to checking the script and making necessary changes.
Of course, everything that goes wrong on the set is the AD's fault and the lower you are, the greater it is.
Bombay Duck is a Fish published by Westland will be available at leading bookstores by the end of May.
Priced at Rs 195
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