A love story in Ayodhya

Bilingual Author of Hindi and English, Pankaj Dubey released a new book titled, One String Attached. It is set in Ayodhya and tells the story of two lovers Shivam and Aaina from different faiths. The day they decide to confess their love is also the day he loses his all, his shop, his parents and his blue-eyed beauty, to a riot. Dubey doesn’t want to reveal much beyond this point but gives a lowdown on writing in two languages. “I transcreate and not translate.

This idea was given to me by my mentor Renu Agal, an acclaimed senior journalist and person of literature, whom we lost recently to an accident. She understood my calibre and asked me to try this different approach rarely practiced by others.” Dubey has also done a short stint in BBC London and was working in the output desk in Aaj Tak before plunging into writing books and scriptwriting.

Now, he curates film festivals and is part of the production house producing Ram Setu, starring Akshay Kumar. “I wanted to write actual fiction and become rich, especially whe n many in TV were selling fiction rather than facts.” he says. Two of his novels, Trending In Love and Ishqiyapa, are set to appear in an upcoming web series.

Talking about the recent film shootings in Mumbai, despite surge in number in Covid cases, he says, “Many of the support staff are dependent on the daily work required on sets, hence the filming carried on but now have stopped.” The writer who studied History in University of Delhi was selected for the prestigious Writers’ Residency in the Seoul Art Space, Yeonhui, South Korea, among three novelists from Asia in 2016. He was also awarded the ‘Global Innoventure Award’ for ‘Literature and Storytelling’ in the House of Lords in the British Parliament, in 2018. Dubey’s writings are laced with socio-political undercurrents and humour.