Reverse psychology

Anuvab Pal's debut novel has appeared on screen already

The ironies of life do not escape Anuvab Pal easily. And the occasion of our meeting was definitely one such moment. A happy irony, as Pal would like to call it.

Pal came to launch his debut book titled The President Is Coming at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Discerning viewers will remember watching a mockumentary with a motley group of characters led by Konkona Sen Sharma and produced by Ramesh Sippy that hit theatres in November 2008. To release a book after the movie has been released is a unique event. “The President Is Coming was originally a play, turned into a screenplay and now a book. Against my better judgement, (publishers) Random House wanted me to write this story,” Pal, who has also written the screenplay of Loins Of Punjab Presents, said.

Joined by India's leading graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee, Pal spoke at length on the characters in his book, the growing schism between rural and urban India, the Americanisation of modern India and the shallowness of today's youth

Full report here Screen