Beating deadlines on adrenaline

Upendra Namburi dissects the human reaction to timelines in his new book

July 29, 2014 07:34 pm | Updated 09:09 pm IST - Bangalore

60 Minutes by Upendra Namburi.

60 Minutes by Upendra Namburi.

Can a sales and marketing professional write bestselling fiction? Delhi-based Upendra Namburi would have an authentic answer. Author of the recently-published 60 Minutes , Upendra describes his book as fast-paced and racy.

He talks about his book and more in a telephonic interview. Excerpts.

Describe your journey sales to fiction?

My passion for writing started way back in college. A few years ago I started writing for a newspaper on subjects like marketing and loyalty.

Even the blogs I started revolved largely around these topics. I read a lot of the fiction to enhance my writing. I wrote 31 , my first book, when a friend called up and said he was about to lose his job. That is when I figured out I enjoy writing fiction.

What was the inspiration for 60 Minutes?

I found it interesting how human psychology changes tremendously when there is a timeline to be met, and there is stress and tension everywhere. Once the timeline gets shorter, people react very differently.

This is one dimension I tried to capture. Also, as a professional, I’ve launched over 25 products, and I understand the warfare between brands, corporate rivalry, the adrenaline rush and intensity when your career is at stake.

What is the book about?

60 Minutes is essentially about three people, and how they interact in that crazy 60-minute period.

It is about human emotions, intense passion and power. It’s all about that adrenaline rush, which all of us have as humans.

What were the obstacles you faced while writing the book?

Honestly, the biggest challenge for a professional is creating that time and space for writing, and trying to balance it out with your schedule. There is also a struggle to keep a distance between the writer and the characters. The personality of the writer shouldn’t get mixed up with that of the characters, and that’s what this whole journey is about. I was fascinated with the character of Sailesh.

Did you have Bollywood in mind while you were writing this book?

It’s funny you should ask that, because in fact, after 31, I was in discussions with a few producers. The elements here are the story, the script and the movie-making process. It’s very different from just reading the book. There’s a certain flow you need in a movie. So when I was writing 60 Minutes , yes, I was fairly influenced by the conversations we had. I was virtually writing a movie, and I could picture several scenes on screen, such as the car chase down marine drive and the product launch tension.

Yes, for this book I certainly am considering it hitting the screens. (Laughs) And there are even actors I thought would suit the roles. Farhan Akhtar would make a great Agastya, and perhaps Kangana Ranaut or Deepika Padukone would pull off Maithili. You never know!

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