Author of 19 bestselling romance novels, Durjoy Dutta, addressed an enthusiastic and young crowd at Allen Park on the third day of AKLF ’24. Radio personality RJ Nilam, from Kolkata, moderated the session. The session was titled ‘Heart and Soul’ and was in collaboration with Red FM 93.5.
When asked about his impressive 19 novels throughout his career, Dutta joked and said, “That’s my only job. I have nothing else to do. I have a lot of free time; hence, I write many books.” He looked back at his journey and commented how he was only 21 when he started writing. He said, “I was 21, young, arrogant and full of self-doubt.” He stated how being published at such a young age hurt his writing. “My advice to you would be not to get published at 21. My first book was a success. Following this, my publisher asked me to write anything, and I wrote anything. It harmed my writing quality as I focused more on publishing the next book than actually writing.”
On his Bengal connection, Dutta commented, “I grew up in Delhi, so I never had a lot of connection with the true Bengali culture. I, however, always make sure at least one character in my book is a Bengali.” He jokingly added how to his non-Bengali friends, he is always a Bengali, but to his Bengali friends, he is far from one. He candidly confessed how he considers himself more of a drama writer who focuses on big plot points rather than a romance novelist.
He later spoke about his latest book, ‘World’s Worst Best Girlfriend’, Durjoy Dutta and how he always wanted to write this book from the perspective of both the ‘dumped and the dumpee.’ He then went on to answer several questions from the enthusiastic crowd. When asked why his male and female protagonists have names starting with a D and an A, he responded that it was a nod to his wife and him, Durjoy, and Avantika.
