Novoneel Chakraborty is the bestselling author of fourteen bestselling thriller novels and one short story collection titled Cheaters. 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 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.
Here in a candid interview Novoneel Chakraborty talks about his latest book — ROSES ARE BLOOD RED and much more . Excerpts :
Q – Tell us about your new book . What is it all about ?
A : My latest novel – ROSES ARE BLOOD RED – is essentially a thriller woven with a heartland tragedy of a love story. It deals with a man’s obsession of dealing with the ‘absence’ of the person he is in soul-deep love with and how it alters him as a human as he grows up with a scandalous twist in the tale.
Q – The title too is intriguing . Why Roses are Blood Red? At reason for this title.
A : It is an intense love story at its heart. And thus, I wanted a title which would not only have a ‘thriller’ vibe to it but somewhere justified the intensity of love.
Q. what message do you want to convey to your readers by this book ?
A : The fact that some things are destined to elude us and it’s better to respect it and move on with life rather than wait and waste a life.
Q. You have been consistently writing one bestselling book after another , where does this energy come from?
A : The energy, I would love to believe, comes from my passion for storytelling. Never a moment goes by that I’m not thinking about a particular story or a character and it makes me feel alive from within.
Q it is hard to pick a favourite book . Which according to you is your favourite.
A : I believe in the saying ‘the latest is always the favourite’. I think I just made up that saying to answer this.
Q Your highly acclaimed The Stranger Trilogy has been adapted into a web series . What is the feeling like .
A : Feels good to see your characters, thoughts, ideas on screen played out by real characters.
Q How do you see the current scenario for writers . Despite many distractions like social media and internet thee is loyal audience for books and reading . The lit fests draw huge crowds . Do you think this inspires writers ?
A : The lit fests are more about networking than inspiration. Or so I feel. I feel happier seeing people, especially youngsters, going out of a book fair with tonnes of books than flocking lit fests. Reading was always a luxury for us but I think there are still readers. It’s just that many of us have time management issues and as mentioned distractions to alter priorities.
Q. Or can we say every genre of books now has audience .
A : Every genre, unfortunately, doesn’t have a substantial audience in India. Genres like psychological thrillers, domestic thrillers, science fiction etc still are in their nascent stage readership wise.
Q what is that tempts you to write thriller books . Is it something you enjoy . Or is the success with the genre made you stick to it.
A : I always followed what came organically to me. All my stories are essentially relationship stories but I tell them within the garb of a thriller and enjoy the process.
Q Any latest book you read recently and liked .
A : I liked Laura Lippman’s ‘And When She Was Good’.
