Mumbai, it seems, was safest for its residents in the last few years, at the height of crime in the city. This was during the late 90s when mafia bosses ruled Bombay’s roost. At least, that’s what Vrushali Telang has to say. The 41-year-old city-based author grew up hearing her parents and their friends talking about crime and gangsters. She’s been influenced by her childhood city and its hidden crime that was rampant around her. “The criminal underground was at its peak, having rooted itself in politics, law and trade, but as far as the common man/woman was concerned, crime could have just as well been non-existent,” she reminisces.
“A lot of my girl friends came to Bombay to study, because every other city was shady for women at the time.” Those years have been so impactful that Telang made Mumbai’s criminal underbelly the background of her latest book: Prime Time Crime . With a double plot, the novel focuses on the city’s criminal sphere and the toxic relationship between its two protagonists, Ritika (a journalist) and A.T (a professional criminal).
Twice as good
The book didn’t start out with a dual nature. The author explains, “I wanted to look at toxic relationships. You know? The one that pulls you in and keeps hurting you,” she says. “They’re manipulative, but also symbiotic. The crime backdrop worked for the relationship”. Accordingly, Prime Time Crime is constantly interspersed with A.T managing his personal life and his criminal side. Ritika and A.T are attracted to each other, but are also bad for each other, furthering the toxic plot of the novel.
Surprisingly, despite the novel being about crime and the underbelly of the city, profanity was conspicuously absent from its pages. All the characters, even the enforcers and low-level thugs are incredibly polite. Telang explains this oddity. “It didn’t feel organic to foul up the language”, and her choice paints a very different perception of what we would expect out of a criminal, and what they actually were.
A new course
The book’s unexpected elements aside, Prime Time Crime has been a big thematic jump for Telang, even though she’s explored the nuances of toxic relationships earlier. For instance, her earliest novel, Can’t Die for Size Zero , chronicles the dangerous desire for a ‘perfect’ body, and other related issues; then there’s He Loves Me Not about and fidelity in romantic relationships.
But one thing has always been a constant in Telang’s literary efforts: her city. “Like I said, I was raised here, and I can’t imagine writing a novel that isn’t based in Bombay,” she says in conclusion.
Prime Time Crime, is priced at ₹250.
