Straight from the heart

‘Genuine’ and ‘frank’ were two words that came to mind when Radhika Sathe-Patwardhan spoke to writer TAHIRA KASHYAP about her latest book, directorial venture, and life in lockdown

- TAHIRA KASHYAP

You hear her voice on the phone line, and you realise that, despite being in the entertainment and glamour industry, Tahira Kashyap has no airs about her. In a telephonic interview with Femina, the down-to-earth writer spoke about her writing process, her new book, and the lockdown.

Exploring the writer

“It really incorporates a lot of frustration!” the columnist, author and scriptwriter exclaims when asked about her writing process. Not one to pen down whatever comes to mind, she lets an idea “trouble me for a couple of days. It is like kaali dal; one lets it simmer for a while before it is done.” She mulls over the idea for a few days until it’s ready to all come out. She draws inspiration from real-life people and situations. “I really like to write about people, about real emotions, about real characters, about funny situations that are not meant to be funny as they happen in a situation of tragedy or whatever. I don’t want to limit myself only to people I know, so I get inspired by watching cinema.” As a columnist, she puts down her thoughts in her regular column in The Times Of India “in a very subliminal way. It’s got to do with something about current affairs, or a little bit about the future, or about feminism; that’s a very big part of me. I’m a bit of a feminist, so that part also creeps in. Sab kuch aa jata hai!”

Exploring the facets of a woman