Bhaskar Chattopadhyay’s debut novel Patang was a crackling thriller. He followed it up with Penumbra , in which he introduced a home-grown detective, Janardhan Maity. His new crime thriller, Here Falls the Shadow (Hachette publishing), places Maity and his friend/narrator in the sleepy town of Nimdeora where a life is under threat and tales of a ghost do the rounds. In the last four years, Chattopadhyay has had eight books to his credit, including an anthology of short stories and translations.
Excerpts from an interview with the author:
All three of your novels explore crime. What draws you to this genre and who are your favourite crime fiction writers?
Believe it or not, it’s a coincidence. Patang was written because someone from the film world asked me to write a thriller for the screen. My second one, Penumbra , was written because I wanted to create my own detective — someone like Poirot or Feluda. The book was well received, so much so that readers began asking me if I would follow it up with another mystery novel featuring the same detective and his loyal friend. So, I did, and Here Falls The Shadow was written. As an author, I’d like to explore different genres — a comedy of errors, romance, a coming of age tale and perhaps science fantasy as well. In crime, I love the writing of Agatha Christie, Satyajit Ray, Conan Doyle and Nicholas Blake.
Janardhan Maity is an astute observer, is knowledgeable and doesn’t accept money for his investigative work. What went into his characterisation?
There are bits and pieces of a number of people I’ve met, which have gone into making the character of my protagonist. I remember when I was a child, there used to be this slightly eccentric gentleman — I don’t remember his name — who used to storm into our home at least once a month and tell my mother — ‘Madam, I’ll have a cup of tea, thank you’, and then he would tell me and my friends amazing stories from various parts of the globe — tales of Antarctica, Madame Tussaud, Nikola Tesla or Amazonian tribes. At other times, he’d sit in a corner, absent minded, pinching his lips, while my mother made him tea. My parents said he’s a loner, but a well read, erudite and intelligent man. His persona had affected me deeply and I can see some parts of him in Janardhan Maity. There are some people for whom money doesn’t mean anything. The thrill of doing something interesting keeps them going.
Two significant characters in this book are writers — Sangram Talukdar (the one under threat) and the narrator. Were any of them inspired by writers around you or did you also put yourself in the shoes of the narrator?
They weren’t really inspired by anyone and I certainly didn’t put myself in the narrator’s shoes. Quite often, the narrator in a detective story is also the chronicler of the adventures. In that sense, it helps if the narrator is a writer. Sangram Talukdar just happened to be a novelist, it wasn’t by design.
What triggered this book?
After Penumbra , I had to write a second book featuring Janardan Maity. But the thing about good mystery novels, especially whodunits, is that you need a solid puzzle in order to write them. The most important question to ask while writing, or reading, a whodunit is not the ‘who’ but the ‘how’.
The small town setting in Nimdeora lends an old world charm to the story. How familiar are you with these surroundings and what made you choose this setting?
I grew up in a small town. Not very long ago, I also had the opportunity to go and meet an old friend who hails from Jharkhand. He showed me around, and I was fascinated by some of the things I saw. While quite a bit of what you read in Here Falls The Shadow is a product of my imagination, there are a few other things which I have seen and experienced. As I lived amid these settings, I could connect with them and it made me realise what a beautiful setting it would be for a good old mystery novel.
The glimpse of the tribal/village life presents a vibrant picture of their lifestyle — including pantomime. Tell us about how you brought these aspects into the story?
The one thing that fascinated me about Jharkhand was how pure life still was, as soon as you stepped out of its towns. I needed that purity in my novel, to contrast it against my protagonist and his friend, both of whom live in a bustling city like Kolkata, where there’s hardly any opportunity for you to interact with nature on a daily basis — nature in its purest, wildest, untamed, unrestricted form. I wanted to bring those elements of the tribal/village/small-town living into my story, because I find them extremely attractive as a backdrop for a baffling puzzle.
In a short time, we’ve seen quite a few books from you. How do you manage that and how would you describe your writing process?
I’ve written eight-nine books in the last four years, including my translations and my original works. Considering the fact that writing is my full time profession, I wouldn’t say this is a great number. But yes, I do accept that I write quite fast, and since I enjoy writing, it hardly tires me out. The writing process varies from one book to another. For some books, I have a seed idea, and I open my laptop and start writing away, and as I do, the story unfolds itself. For others, I let the idea marinate in my head for days, sometimes weeks, asking questions to myself, answering them, going back and forth, until it reaches a stage where I am satisfied and can turn on the oven. Each story comes with its own set of challenges and possibilities, and I give each story the time, effort and commitment it deserves.
