Novoneel Chakraborty is the bestselling author of fourteen bestselling thriller novels and one short story collection titled Cheaters. His novel, Forget Me Not, Stranger, debuted as the No. 1 bestseller across India. While All Yours, Stranger ranked in the top five thriller novels on Amazon, India-the only one to feature amid other international bestsellers.
His novel Black Suits You was in top five thrillers category on Amazon for fifteen weeks. While his Forever series was in the bestseller list for ten weeks straight after its release with Forever Is a Lie featuring in the highest selling books on Flipkart for 2017. Forever Is True made it to Amazon's Memorable Books of 2017 and Times of India's Most Stunning Books of 2017.
Known for his twists, dark plots and strong female protagonists, Novoneel Chakraborty is also called the Sidney Sheldon of India by his readers. His immensely popular thriller series, The Stranger Trilogy, has been translated into six Indian languages and has been adapted into a popular web series, titled Hello Mini, on MX Player produced by Applause Entertainment and Rose Movies.
His erotic thriller novel, Black Suits You, has been adapted into the blockbuster hit Bekaaboo, while his exclusive digital novella, Red Suits You, is also being adapted into a web series by Alt Balaji. His short story collection, Cheaters, is now available in Hindi as well. Apart from novels, Novoneel has written and developed several TV and web shows for premiere channels and platforms. He lives and works in Mumbai.
Interviews
An Interview With Novoneel Chakraborty, The Man Behind Several Bestsellers And Savdhaan India
By Suchandana Patoa
Novoneel Chakraborty is an Indian author of fiction and is well known for his brilliant works in the field of Indian fiction writing.
–Wikipedia
Novoneel Chakraborty’s books have touched thousands of souls across India. He is a full-time author, screenwriter and a blogger.
–Goodreads
Novoneel Chakraborty is the author of several famous Indian bestsellers and has written beautiful shows like ‘Yeh hai Aashiqui’, ‘Million Dollar Girl’ and ‘Savdhaan India’.
It was our pleasure to interview him and here are the questions we put up:
Your first book ‘A Thing Beyond Forever’ became a national bestseller soon after its release in 2008. Did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Not really. Actually, when I wrote my first book, I was of a very young age. I started writing more after the first book was published but the publishing of my first book perhaps never caused a change. Well, when I started writing more and more, the process of writings was enhanced.
So we know you’ve been traveling to different cities since childhood, including Lucknow that has been closest to your heart. Do you think somewhere this provided you the experience and knowledge which is clearly reflected in your writings?
To be honest, in the very beginning I didn’t like the idea of transfers. I really disliked shifting to a whole new place, making new friends and leaving old friends. But then, now when I look back, I realize when I travelled new cities, I discovered new people and was exposed to different kinds of culture. Now, when I sit to craft a character, I know how a person from Delhi may talk like or a person from U.P would act like and this somewhere made a difference. So, I can say in a long run, it has helped me.
We know about your blog Novo Sphere. How has the journey from a blogger to a writer been?
Well, I cannot call myself a blogger. In fact, I started blogging after my first book. My blog is actually a place for me to get my small pieces of writings up. I had it to post the small pieces of work. I am a storyteller. If I call myself a blogger, it would be unfair to other bloggers who actually blog seriously, so basically I am more of a storyteller.
Readers often read reviews before they plan to read a book. Do you read reviews of your own book? How do you deal with good or bad reviews?
Actually, I only read the first few reviews of my book. The initial 15-20 reviews are all that I seek to read. I always keep this in mind that when you write, some people will really connect to it and would like to read it while some would naturally not be able to like it as not everyone has the same taste.
You’ve written beautiful shows like ‘Yeh hai Aashiqui’, ‘Million Dollar Girl’ to eye opening shows like ‘Savdhaan India’. Your novels are always a mixture of Romance, Thriller, and Mystery. How do you decide what tone a particular piece of writing? How has this creativity evolved?
When you write for shows, especially shows like Savdhaan India where it is based on true events, you get a team to assist and direct you. So basically there you need to only dramatize the situation. But when it comes to novels, it becomes my own thing and so I feel free while writing them. Like J.K Rowling is known for her Harry Potter series, she tried writing other things but her niche remained Harry, the same is with me. I know my power lies in something that is not entirely Romance, or Thriller. I keep proportions of romance, thriller, and suspense. Somewhere I know, that this is where I find my writings, somewhere in them. This is what makes my writings different, maybe.
From all the characters you’ve worked upon, which one of them is closest to your heart? Or which of them is much similar to you?
Well, I never really thought about it. Also, I never crafted a character keeping myself in mind. But when you ask me, Kaash Sehgal from ‘How about a SIN tonight’ is someone who is a little similar to me.
So, what do you love and hate the most about being a writer?
I love the fact that when you get into writing, it is actually a completely different zone that you get into. You create your own little world and keep expanding your world in a way you wish to. What I hate about being a writer is, to be honest, is that I am a restless kind of person. Where writing needs a lot of patience, I lack it at times.
Would you like to tell us about the much awaited ‘Dark Romance Thriller’ you’re about to launch this monsoon?
I would say the upcoming book will be addressing a social issue. The book is actually drawn by the lines of that Social evil. Also, this time it is going to be a lot more romantic.
So finally, as The MagZone seeks to promote budding writers and provide them with a platform to get published; do you have any suggestions for all the amateur writers there?
Yes, to all those writers out there all I would like to say is, be observant. Observe your surroundings and observe the impact your surrounding has on you. Stay alerted and stay aware of all that is going around. I’ve also seen writers today keeping their focus more on fame and marketing. I feel marketing and fame are going to come later but telling a story and conveying something should be a priority. Keep reading. Read and Read. The more you read the more you learn, in fact, you should never stop reading.
As I talked to Novoneel, I realized that beyond the beautiful words that he writes, there is a person who is so strong, intellectually and emotionally, that when you talk you get a feeling of it as well. The way he carried his personality is totally an inspiration to us. He is truly a writer with magic in his words.
Which one is your favourite Novoneel’s novel? Drop in the comments below.
