Karan Oberoi on his bestseller novel Battlefield Brothers, debut solo album and more

Actor-musician Karan Oberoi has just published his novel Battlefield Brother about a family of army officers. The gripping saga gives nothing away about its author’s actual vocation. So was Karan born to be a writer? Subhash K Jha finds out. Where was this author in you hiding? I was always writing. It’s not a sudden development. Had started writing in poetry and songs before I graduated to writing my first full-fledged story and screenplay in 2005. It was called Choti Si Baat. A subtle nuanced rom-com. During my formative years, I was greatly inspired by the likes of Basu Bhattacharya and Hrishikesh Mukherjee ! And I was the biggest fan of Farooq Sheikh and Amol Palekar ! Those are the kind of movies I also wanted to delve into as a story teller. You are also into screenplay writing? How different is that from fiction? Book writing happened as a byproduct of screenwriting. Writing a book is an extremely personal affair unlike story and screenplay writing for movies, tv or web. In fact, all long-format writings today and an extremely collaborative process with writers’ room the networks having a point of view to that too. Like the story and screenplay, I have written for the new series for ZEE5 had a lovely writers room and was also a learning experience as well quite joyful cuz we got along like a house on fire. The fact that it was being helmed by Shivam Nair who’s almost a mentor to me just made it even more special. Tell me about your writing process. Do you require a lot of privacy for your writing? When I express my deepest core of expression in my books I really can’t have anyone watching over my shoulders. So I write from a very deep self. It’s a very different process for me. I have to be alone with my thoughts without any distractions at all. I write by instinct. Anything and everything can be an inspiration.

Your first book Battlefield brother is inspired by your own family? Yes, my first book came about at a dinner table with dad and his brothers recounting their war experiences. It was amazing as well as shocking to hear the soldiers talking so nonchalantly about their endeavours while I watched and listened open-mouthed. If you read the story you realise it’s nothing but extraordinary as a tale! How could they not see it that way? For them, they were soldiers from a legacy of soldiers just going about their job to defend their motherland by putting their lives at stake. For me, it was jaw-dropping! When I told them that I wanted to write a book about it, they almost laughed it off saying who would be interested in hearing about their lives. In fact, as soon as the book hit the number one bestseller spot I called my dad and ribbed him about it, saying the jokes on him now. What are your future plans as an author? My next four books are ready to be published and each one is different in its genre and appeal. I like the joy of expressing myself in stories, which give me the freedom to change my writing style with each one. So the next one called Rockstar In Reverse is written in a very tongue-in-cheek and quirky style. Singer, actor, author….will the real Karan Oberoi stand up? Ha ha, present, Sir. I get a lot of things done. I wake up early and sleep on time. I am a very passionate human being, so I can’t do anything for a lark. I wake up at 6 am and do my riyaaz each day without fail. I can’t just be another singer, author, actor, writer or producer. Either I am the best at it or I won’t do it at all! That’s my simple core philosophy in life. I believe your books are being adapted into films? Three of my books are already up for cinematic adaptation, including Battlefield Brothers! The first one that I actually wrote is called Holy Cow has been optioned by Anurag Kashyap ! The other two are awaiting announcement by very accomplished storytellers too! So is music’s loss literature’s gain? I don’t want to leave anything for anything! Like I said, I will harder than most just to be able to fulfil each of my passions. And that’s how I want to live. In fact, my next book is already underway and I started it while I was facing the camera for the ZEE5 show. Actors have a lot of downtime in-between shots. For me it turns out to be the most productive, I prepare for the role from home. And the downtime, I use to write my next story instead of sitting around and gossiping. It gives me immense sense of fulfilment. And no, music never takes a backseat. The restless soul that I am, I am ready with my first ever solo album. It would release in the next couple of months along with a song dedicated to the musical band The Band of Boys, celebrating twenty years as a band and more importantly us bandmembers, Siddharth Haldipur, Sherrin Varghese, Chintoo Bhosle, Sudhanshu Pandey and I, as friends. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.