Click to play videoMumbai: Kiran Nagarkar, best known for his seminal English novel, 'Ravan and Eddie', is out with a sequel called 'The Extras', once again starring Ravan Pawar and Eddie Coutinho.
But there is cause for concern. The reclusive author feels that writers in India fear breaking new literary ground now because of political intolerance.
17 years after Kiran Nagarkar first published a riveting tale about two now-iconic literary figures Ravan and Eddie, the author has come up with a sequel. Launched in Mumbai on Saturday by actor Naseeruddin Shah, the novel continues tracing the lives of arch enemies Ravan Pawar and Eddie Coutinho, who live on different floors of the CWD chawl in Mazgaon, and are now all grown-up. Set in the 60s and 70s, the novel traces their single-minded struggle to make it big in Bollywood in Nagarkar's typically sardonic style.
"They're leading a dual life, Ravan is a taxi driver. Eddie works at an Auntie's joint, a speak easy. And they are trying to make it in the movies," Nagarkar said.
Considered one of the country's finest English writers, the reclusive author says a growing intolerance to literary works, such as the Shiv Sena's recent protest of Rohinton Mistry's novel, has had a numbing effect on the country's literati. His own publishers asked him to leave out portions of the book considered too caustic for Mumbai..
Nagarkar said, "This one passage was called 'Come back, Queen Victoria, Come Back', and everyone around me said no one would understand what I meant, and it would be seen as unpatriotic. So now it's no longer in the book. I have no desire to be lynched."
Kiran Nagarkar spoke to CNN-IBN over the issue.
CNN-IBN: So censorship is dangling over a writer's head, stifling him?
Kiran Nagarkar: Sadly yes. There are things I want to write, but this is at the back of my mind. But let me make one thing clear, I have not made any compromises.
CNN-IBN: Are publishers and writers stopping themselves from breaking new ground in that sense?
Kiran Nagarkar: You bet. There are brilliant new writers out there, and I feel terrible because they know their story will not make it, if they write like that.
CNN-IBN: Because of fear?
Kiran Nagarkar: Sure. At the end of the day, I am a storyteller. And what is a storyteller without his audience? But I have made no compromises.
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