In Conversation with Madhav Mathur

25-year-old Madhav Mathur is the quintessential urban Indian male of today:  a young, successful, well-paid banker living in Singapore. But there's more to Mathur than his day job; he owns a film production company (Bad Alliteration Films), like to paint, has - in his own words - "messed around" with acting and theater. What's more, his debut novel, Diary Of An Unreasonable Man, will soon be adapted into a movie by Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Gulaal and Black Friday). Dressed sharply in a black blazer, purple shirt and black trousers he seems slightly nervous I catch up with him at the Penguin Books India office for a quick chat about his book.

What was the genesis of this book?

I think it's a slow burn I have lived with all through my life. The themes I have explored - greed, materalism, corruption - are not new. People have spoken about them, but I think my take on them is new. I've tried to address these problems that I've had for a very long time and lived with them for a very long time. There was no incident which said "write this now". I have always thought about these things and decided to put them down when I left for Singapore.

How much of Madhav Mathur is in the protagonist, Pranav Kumar?
Quite a bit. I would say there's a good overlap. He's definitely more unreasonable than me and likes to take the bull by the horns; he's got convictions and lives them out. I am a bit of a panzie when I compare myself to him because I can't do the things he does. And, in a way, Penguin and Anurag (Kashyap) saved me from doing those things because had I been as unpublished and as beaten down as this guy, I would like to think that I would have mustered up the guts to do something crazy. 

Don't you think the theme you have explored - 'well-paid executive quits job to explore passion' - is becoming clichéd?
Well, I just wrote about what my experience should be. I think there are a lot of people who hate what they are doing, are discontent or sick of their jobs. And these people want to see a change not just in their lives but in the lives of the people around them. That's a common sentiment so I think you will continue to see books like this since there is some element of truth in it. 

The Diary Of An Unreasonable Man

In terms of a film, did you start visualising the book while you were writing it?
I did think it would make for a good film sometime when I started writing it, which is why I approached Anurag. But I did not add elements to make the story more 'filmy'. Some of the feedback I have got is that the description is sometimes overdone; where you look at things and share that detail of painting a picture. I can't help but write like that because I have to communicate to that level of detail. And since I make short films and feature films myself, I would like to communicate to that level of detail.

You call this The Diary Of An Unreasonable Man but its written in prose format rather than diary entries. Was that deliberate?
We were toying with a lot of titles initially. Why we thought of this is because it is a personal thing being shared even though it's not written as a diary. The diary is there basically to illustrate that its personal thoughts being put out there.

How did you approach Anurag Kashyap and what transpired between the both of you?
I saw No Smoking in Singapore and I thought it was quite brilliant. 

You seem to be one of the rare people who liked No Smoking. It got pretty bad reviews…
Yes, it got trashed everywhere and even Anurag said the critics didn't like it. But I had my own reasons for liking the movie. I thought here's a filmmaker who has the guts to do something he believes in without bothering much about the conventions and norms of Indian cinema. I thought, since he likes to break some rules in his style and I'm trying to break some in my own way, it might be a nice fit to try and reach out to the guy to see if there's some synergy. And I'd reached out to him through his blog. I'd submitted a short film for a film competition which he also liked. We started talking after that, one thing led to another, I met him in Mumbai, he liked the raw manuscript and he almost immediately agreed to make it into a film.

How much of the book will be made into a film since the world of a novel is larger than that of a movie?
True. I will be a part of the scriptwriting process so I think that'll be decided at a later stage.

You've lived in Singapore which, in many ways, is a symbol of capitalistic success. What is your take on the greed, commercialism, materialism, etc. which accompany capitalistic success?

I would say that I am upset about certain things and it comes across in my writings in a very direct way. One of the things my protagonist complains about is how certain things become the be all and end all of people's lives. So yes, I do agree with that.

Tell us something about your next book...does it revolve around the same theme?
I wouldn't say so, no. It's a fictional take about fanaticism and fascism set in the future. I'm going to take a look at it from fresh eyes.

A slightly different version of this interview appears on the Businessworld website