He beguiles readers with his curious plots and bewitches them with his piquant sense of humour. Almost two decades after his “Ravan & Eddie” hit the stands, Kiran Nagarkar is back to follow his cult characters with a sequel called “The Extras”. On the way to Jaipur Literature Festival, Nagarkar talks about what happened in the lives of the characters of a CWD chawl in Mumbai, who were separated by more than just floors.
Edited excerpts:
What was the need of the sequel?
I am interested in my characters. I was keen to know what happened to them and pursued them. The seeds were already there in the first book. Both were drawn to films and music. Ravan was watching Dil Deke Dekho and Eddie was watching Rock Around the Clock . In terms of career they could not think of anything else but films. The story is about how they set out to be superstars but end up becoming extras. But most importantly, both of them especially Eddie, was a mortal enemy of Ravan. That enmity continues almost to the half-way point.
The title hints at a bigger picture…
We seldom care who is standing behind our star and his lady love. The extras come for the dance. I don't know whether it is a sign of maturity or immaturity of film industry but every ten years the number of extras dancing behind our heroes and heroines increases many fold. In good old days there used to be at the most 10 extras in songs but these days there are up to 100 extras in one dance sequence. Now it is a mystery from where do these 100 people come from. To be an extra is a very difficult thing for you don't set out to be an extra. You wanted to be a superstar. The condition of your mind is complete denial because you survive only on hope because once you give in to the fact that you will remain an extra the prospect of your becoming a star will vanish. Both Eddie and Ravan have their respective bands but they can't make enough money out of them. So Ravan runs a taxi. It is set in the days of prohibition. In those days there were aunties, who used to run illicit bars. These were Roman Catholic women, whose families were very badly off. Eddie becomes a bouncer in one of these bars. He was also sent to bring the booze because the booze was brewed illegally. The police was always generous because it was an opportunity to make money. Eddie and Ravan had many such misadventures while trying to be stars. Eddie was always on first term basis with top stars. He will talk about Raj Kapoor as ‘Rajji? kal dekha tha na Rajji ko.' He will talk as if he was his bosom friend. This brings the relationship between people like Eddie and gossip magazines. It is that of egg and chicken. You never get to know who thrives because of whom. Do these people get their information from gossip magazines or is it the other way round because these people are watching the stars all the time. There are similar digressions on education system, taxis…social commentary on the times with a consistent dose of humour.”
But the basic idea is about accepting the other as the other is…
My original thesis was about why people hate each other. The change comes very gradually. Initially, when Ravan (whom Eddie considers responsible for the death of his father) tries to help Eddie, Eddie is not even grateful. Slowly, they begin to appreciate each other.
Right from your first play, “Bedtime Story”, you have talked about the collective responsibility of the society. So then, we are also responsible for Ravan and Eddie's hatred for each other.
Not just Eddie and Ravan every Mumbaiite is responsible for allowing the beautiful city to go down the drain. We are responsible for the fact that our country has become so utterly corrupt. The job of the politician is reduced to a cross between mafia and real estate agent. Every time quota is doled out you don't complain if it comes for you and your family. We never get to see a situation where people say, kya kar rahe ho bhai , we can see through your intentions.
How can we go about it?
By raising our voices. How do you think India got its independence through non-violence? We have completely forgotten the national narrative. The consumerist society that we have become, thinks only about individual interest, not about the fellow beings. That is why we have such high number of malnutrition cases.
With Salman Rushdie forced to keep away from the Jaipur fest, censorship has once again come out of the closet. You also faced controversies, where people agitate without reading the book.
That is the precondition of censorship. First, people forced Husain out of the country, now they don't want Rushdie to come. How can they keep him away, he was born here. Our belief is atithi devo bhava . It no longer remains the hurt of one person. And censorship doesn't affect only arts. It is a mistaken belief. It is in our sciences as well. Doctors and engineers involved in research also face it.
