Talking about how women were kept in boxes throughout their lives and broke those boxes to become a writer, Smriti told Masaba, “I was silenced to be an actor who gets into politics. Well, there was stuff that you have to be pretty dumb. – This is something I saw 20 years ago. When I entered electoral politics I was 26. Then people thought if you are young So you have to be dumb enough or not experienced enough to face the world. Last year when I told my husband that I want to do something in life, he looked at me horrified saying ‘You have done a lot’ ( Laughter) … I had written a story as an actor before, but this is the first time I have written a book. There was a bookstore near my house and the shopkeeper used to tell me that ‘ You have the ability to write’. He had read some of my works, so I wrote a story. And then I found a crazy editor who wanted me to print it. I I am fortunate in this way because not many women get this opportunity.”
Revealing details about her debut novel ‘Lal Salaam’, Smriti further said, “‘Lal Salaam’ is a thriller, which women are not expected to write. When I sent the manuscript, I wrote it in my name. because I wanted an established author. To read. And the author was furious about who wrote it. He thought it would be an academic expression, which was not. A woman a fictional character, Why can’t I write about a thriller? There was a sort in which I was silenced.” Agreeing to which, Masaba said, “I was also curious because I expected a certain kind of book (from you). What I got instead was the exact opposite. That’s what’s so magical about it.”
Smriti Zubin Irani’s debut novel ‘Lal Salaam’ is the story of a young officer, Vikram Pratap Singh, and the challenges faced by an idealistic law-enforcer when the system is steeped in backroom politics and corruption. According to the publisher, it is a gripping tale of struggle against extreme odds and the struggle of men and women fighting these odds with courage, ingenuity and resilience.
The author also revealed that though the story stayed with him for over a decade, in the last three years he started talking about writing it in the form of a book. “A few years ago, I was part of a debate on national TV about paramilitary forces in the country. Someone was very brazen and disrespectful towards those who died. They said ‘they wear uniforms so they know they have to die’ This angered me and it stayed with me for more than a decade. I have been talking about the concept of this book for the last three years, however it took time to build the book. I would give this book to those people. As a tribute to those who served the country at their own cost,” Smriti said.
Actor-politician and now writer, Smriti also shared that she loves reading thrillers and it kind of inspired her to wield a pen of her own. “I am an old school book reader. I am the daughter of a bookseller because my parents ran away, had a love marriage, and they barely had Rs 150/- with them then. My father lives in Dhaula Kuan, Delhi. He used to sell books. He read the Wilbur Smiths of the world… I never grew up with Mills and Boone around me; it was generally a thriller. What I write is a manifestation of what I’ve read.”
Published by Westland Publications, ‘Lal Salaam’ is slated to release on November 29, 2021.
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