Interview with Ashwin Sanghi

August 11, 2014

Ashwin Sanghi-2 Ashwin Sanghi is a businessman by day and an author by night. His first three novels deal with history, mythology and theology placed in a contemporary setting. With a gripping plot set in two different eras, Chanakya’s Chant remained on AC Nielsen’s India Top-10 for over 18 months while The Krishna Key hit the number 1 spot on the AC Nielsen’s all- India fiction rankings in the first week of its release. With his latest offering – Private India he moves into uncharted territory. IBS asks Mr Sanghi for his views on penmanship, how to get published in India, literary snobbishness and more.

Private India is a work of collaboration between James Patterson and you. What were the best and worst things about collaboratively writing a novel? Whose literary style won the day? Whose ideas for the plot and sub-plots? How difficult was it to avoid encroaching on the other person’s territory?

The best thing about collaborating is the fact that one can pool ideas and expertise. The problem, however, is that it is far more difficult to write in a coordinated fashion as part of a team effort than to write solo. Collaboration requires method and discipline. James provided a guideline as well as an existing set of characters that need to be woven into the story. Using his guideline, I developed the plot outline. We discussed the plot outline in detail and froze it after amendments. I then proceed to write the first draft. The final draft was written by James. To that extent, both of us got fair opportunity to incorporate our own voices. You need more than one voice to create a harmony… my insider’s perspective on India and its culture along with my passion for research and fast-moving plots were complementary to JP’s proven formula for creating larger-than-life characters and building conflict. Multiple voices work well in a choir as long as they sing the right notes. I think you’ll find that we hit the right notes with Private India. The process took around eighteen months from start to finish.

This work was a bit of a departure from the genres you have explored before. Would you continue your foray into the detective thriller genre after Private India? And if yes, would it be with or without Santosh Wagh?

A sandwich is a sandwich even though the filling may differ. Thrillers should hook the reader and force him or her to turn the page, producing a thrilling sensation at appropriate points in the story. In that sense, a crime thriller is not very different to a mythological or historical thriller. The primary difference lies in the elements that cause the thrill. In a historical/mythological thriller, the thrill comes from a revelation. In a crime thriller, the thrill comes from an unanswered question. Honestly speaking, I quite like the idea of alternating between history/mythology and contemporary crime.

Are you a fan of the detective fiction genre yourself? Any favourite fictional detectives?

There are many. I was always addicted to Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. In addition authors such as P. D. James, Patricia Cornwell, Thomas Harris and Mary Higgins Clark also succeeded in whetting my appetite for crime novels. The character of Sherlock Holmes is by far my favourite. I have always loved characters that have a darker side to them. I am referring to the drug habit of Holmes and his historical enmity with Professor Moriarty. In the Danish TV series Forbrydelsen—The Killing—the detective character of Sarah Lund is also incredible… messed up personal life and stubborn defiance of authority.

What about any Indian fictional detectives – anyone who springs to mind?

Well, here’s the rub. Indian commercial writing in English should actually have taken off in 1965. That was the year in which Satyajit Ray gave us the inimitable Feluda. Surprisingly, commercial fiction writing in general did not take off for many years in India primarily because of our snobbish attitude towards such writing. Most Indian authors were busy churning out literary fiction and publishers continued actively searching for the next Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, or Jhumpa Lahiri. They could hardly be bothered with finding the Indian equivalent of Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth, Jack Higgins, or Tom Clancy. Satyajit Ray would not have given us Feluda if an Indian market for mysteries, suspense, adventure and thrillers did not exist. It’s sad that we allowed ourselves to cede space to foreign authors in these genres. I’m happy to see that this is changing rapidly now. We should have our own versions of Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. I hope that this collaboration between Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson will fuel that process.

Private India features a protagonist with a dark past and an attractive female sidekick – isn’t that a little cliched when it comes to detective novels? Didn’t you want to break the mould?

Not really. Read a book by Christopher Booker. It’s called ‘The Seven Basic Plots’. In this book (that took 34 years to write), Booker explains that all stories fit into seven basic plot types. What’s my point? That any plot or character you come across in a book, the chances are that it’s been done before. In that sense, everything is clichéd.

What do you focus on when you compress days of heavy historical research into a gripping thriller– the plot, the characters or the historical background? Which do you think is most important?

That’s like asking which of your children are more precious to you! There is no substitute for methodical and diligent research when it comes to historical or mythological novels. The problem is that research does not make for a good story. It’s the plot that makes the research interesting. Plot determines characters, pace, detailing and everything else. Get it right and everything else can be fixed; get it wrong and no amount of tinkering can help fix it.

You could well be considered the poster boy of Indian self-publishing – you self-published (and, most importantly, marketed!)The Rozabal Line yourself, and it went on to become a huge hit with readers, subsequently landing you a publishing contract. Why didn’t you continue self-publishing your own books?

In the Indian context, the key issue that a self-published author will contend with is distribution. The biggest piece of the marketing puzzle in India is distribution and that is a key ingredient contributed by the publisher. It’s possible that with the increasing dominance of online retailers and the increasing share of eBooks, a day may come when distribution to brick-and-mortar stores no longer matters. But that’s not the case today.

We’ve read elsewhere that for your first book you chose to use a pseudonym, Shawn Haigins, so as to help you compartmentalize your life and keep Ashwin the businessman separate from Shawn the writer. Many other writers use pseudonyms too, for various reasons – e.g. JK Rowling used her initials instead of her name because her publishers feared that little boys would not be as interested in a book written by a woman! How much do you think the name, sex and nationality of a debut author matter, when they’re introducing their work to the public for the first time? Earlier, was there a slight bias in the Indian reader’s mind, in favour of Western-sounding authors? Do you think that is changing now?

Unfortunately, there is no clear answer. The truth is somewhere in between. When I was starting out, most publishers would ask me why I, an Indian, was attempting to write thrillers that were viewed as the exclusive domain of American and English authors. In effect, my nationality went against me. PD James used her initials because a woman was less likely to be taken seriously as a crime writer. Gender went against her. But Agatha Christie remains the undisputed queen of crime despite being a woman. The short answer: I don’t know!

Moving into the realm of the internet, what do you think of e-book platforms compared to print publishing? Do you read e-published books yourself?

Sure. Most of my books are bought on the Kindle platform and I access these books in my Kindle Library on the iPad. I rarely get time to read these days and hence I am happy to snatch a few hours catching up on a pending read when I travel. The Kindle makes that so very simple. One can carry one’s entire collection in the cloud! Both EBooks and Printed books have their qualities. When I’m in my home, I love picking up older books and leafing through them… it’s rather comforting. Many books have stories and incidents connected with them. Many are significant because of who gave them to me. At those times I pray that the printed book will continue to stay. In my opinion though, the future is certain. Vinyl records, cassette tapes and CD’s made way for Mp3. VHS and DVD are making way for Netflix. In the literary world, handwritten manuscripts made way for printed books and hardcover books made way for paperbacks. It’s a matter of time before paperbacks will need to clear the way for eBooks.

Which Indian authors do you enjoy reading?

Salman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra, RK Narayan, Amitav Ghosh, Devdutt Pattanaik, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and several others.

If Private India were to be made into a Bollywood movie, who would you want to play Santosh Wagh, Nisha Gandhe, Mubeen and Hari? Who would you want the movie to be directed by?

I think that John Abraham or Sanjay Dutt would be ideally suited for the role of Santosh Wagh. Nisha Gandhe’s character would be perfect for Kareena. The other roles could be played by any number of actors. A thriller is a different animal and needs tight direction and editing. Probably someone like Sujoy Ghosh who did a fine job with Kahaani would be ideally suited to direct this.

You’ve never fought shy of mentioning, in public forums, your fondness for whisky. (More power to you, we say!) So how about a novel whose plot connects, say, the ancient Sura distilling practices of Vedic times and the (deliciously murky) business practices of a contemporary beer baron? Sab charitra kalpanik, of course.

I can’t answer that right now. I’m sober!

Thank you so much, Mr. Sanghi, for taking time out from your busy schedule to answer all our questions. We wish you all the best for all your future endeavours, and are waiting hungrily for the future exploits of Santosh Wagh!

Check out our reviews of Ashwin Sanghi’s books Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key and Private India. To find the books at the best price, click here.

-with inputs from Shruti Prasad and Vanathi Parthasarathy

Mugdha Wagle

Mugdha Wagle

Content Editor at IndiaBookStore
Kitabi Keeda of the most obsessive sort. When she's reading something, interrupt her only if you have life insurance! Discovering a fantastic new author can move her to tears. Loves trekking, adores animals and venerates good food (eating it, not cooking it :))!
Mugdha Wagle

38 Comments

  • Maniparna Sengupta Majumder August 11, 2014 at 6:11 PM

    An intriguing interview…nice to know that he likes Satyajit Ray’s ‘Feluda’…. thanks for sharing it… 🙂

    • IndiaBookStore August 13, 2014 at 8:57 AM

      Glad you liked it, Maniparna!

  • Sayantini Bhattacharya September 8, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    Feluda is my favourite too and I guess it is a must-read in every Bengali family. Loved reading this interview. I never got a chance to read him but I’d surely try reading all of his books. Thanks India Book Store, for this opportunity!

    • Pelle February 18, 2016 at 10:13 PM

      To be frank, I felt like Greek and Latin while reading this post for the fowilolng reasons.1. I have not read much of the mythology related books/articles though I know something and I am interested2. I have not read any of the books you have quoted of Dan Brown etc., However, it is interesting to read and good to see the comparisons you had made point by point. I like the fowilolng statement.//I applaud this book in the fact that it succeeds in making the readers scoot over to Google to check facts about our history that we never bothered to know more about.// This is very good and if an author makes the readers go around and do something out of his writing, I also would agree with you that it is his SUCCESS. Cheers,Raghavan alias Saravanan MBengaluru | Karnataka | India

  • Bhavya N September 8, 2014 at 10:33 AM

    Questions that a lot of us had in our minds, glad Mr. Ashwin was asked these and we got to read his thoughts. Good job.

  • Sam Sharma September 8, 2014 at 10:34 AM

    It is interesting what emerges when two minds meet.

  • Vineeth September 8, 2014 at 10:44 AM

    really excited about the book

  • Jumsumtak September 8, 2014 at 10:56 AM

    I can relate with Ashwin’s agatha christie addiction. 😀 Looking forward to read his book.

  • Saptarshi Das September 8, 2014 at 11:20 AM

    Truly, he is the ‘Indian Dan Brown’

  • Smriti Prasad September 8, 2014 at 11:25 AM

    Ashwin Sanghi seems to be a very polished and mature writer and his collaboration with James Patterson would be really something to look out for! Waiting to read this book 😀

  • Rishabh September 8, 2014 at 11:44 AM

    Krishna Key was awesome

  • Gautam Gour September 8, 2014 at 11:56 AM

    Great

    • Florent February 18, 2016 at 10:22 PM

      Yes anna, that’s the author’s suscecs. And speaking of knowledge about mythology, there is prerequisites. Every novel in its own will explain the course. If you are interested in Indian mythology, there are quite a few books that will help you like this one, Shiva trilogy etc.The next point, coming to Dan Brown’s books, I would strongly suggest you to read them, especially Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and Digital fortress. These 3 are my favourites. Da Vinci code and Angels & Demons will give you an insight into the Christian controversies. Digital fortress is a cyber thriller. When you have time, have a read. It would be worth

  • Ravi Raj September 8, 2014 at 12:57 PM

    It seems quite interesting….

  • Manjyot Singh September 8, 2014 at 1:00 PM

    Chanakya’s chant was an awesome book loved it, now waiting for this one.

  • Sushma Shenoy September 8, 2014 at 1:03 PM

    i cnt wait to read d next buk. excited

  • Aditi Saha September 8, 2014 at 3:02 PM

    Ashwin Sanghi is right now one of the most talented author in India. He writes solid and intriguing plotted novels which are thoroughly compelling and highly delectable! I’ve not missed single of his books! Waiting to read Private India and hoping to win the book!

  • Skie September 8, 2014 at 3:15 PM

    Ashwin Sanghi IS the most talented author in India right now, who connects with the youth

  • nischaytv September 8, 2014 at 4:03 PM

    awesome

    • Sohail February 18, 2016 at 10:30 PM

      I got the Shiva Trilogy parts I and II on reading your rieevw and must say, I’m really hooked on to the first part I. Very intriguing and superb narration. Thanks for the rieevw and reco.Indian authors are doing a fine job looks like?? I am also fascinated with the mythology. Of course, very esoteric books put me off.

  • nischaytv September 8, 2014 at 4:03 PM

    good

  • Kavya Seetala September 8, 2014 at 4:54 PM

    Brilliant writer.I’m interested in the new book ”Private India.”

  • Jeevan R September 8, 2014 at 5:26 PM

    A good read.. 🙂

  • Sanjay Rajak September 8, 2014 at 5:27 PM

    Creativity speak through words..ready 2 read ”Private India.”..:)

  • gowdham September 8, 2014 at 6:27 PM

    Wonderful

  • Ekta Vaswani September 8, 2014 at 8:08 PM

    Amazing

  • Pratikhya Alexis September 8, 2014 at 8:37 PM

    Though I haven’t read Ashwin Sanghi yet but yeah would like to do so now. 🙂

  • Priyadarshi Das September 8, 2014 at 8:59 PM

    Looking Forward To Grab The Fabulous Copy & Read

  • Neha September 8, 2014 at 9:27 PM

    Looks like a great book! 🙂

  • Subhashis September 8, 2014 at 10:40 PM

    Interesting. Hopw to win ! 🙂

  • Santosh September 8, 2014 at 11:28 PM

    The Krishna Key was great, now looking forward for this ..

  • yatin September 9, 2014 at 12:03 AM

    Good. Hope i win.

  • Jose September 9, 2014 at 12:28 AM

    Good

  • Sumit Nangia September 9, 2014 at 2:15 AM

    Great Interview.

  • Saptarshi Sarkar September 9, 2014 at 4:55 PM

    Bring it on !! (y)

  • Rohith Iyer September 9, 2014 at 8:17 PM

    Nice Interview

  • Suraj Saluja September 10, 2014 at 9:23 AM

    Interesting and looking forward to read the book “Private India”

  • Kashif Akhtar September 10, 2014 at 1:12 PM

    Too eager lay my hands upon Private India, let’s discover what the author has in mind.

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