India's top content creator Prajakta Koli brings her take on love, heartbreak to Sharjah International Book Fair

Dubai: In her foreword to her debut novel Too Good To Be True, Prajakta Koli writes: “I hope this book sets the romantic bar in your life so high that everyone you meet brings a ladder to the first date.”

It’s a line that captures Koli’s vibe — witty, self-aware, and unabashedly romantic in a world that’s forgotten how to commit to even a burger.

In the age of “ghosting” and “benching,” where modern dating apps have turned connection into a contact sport, Koli has grabbed the bull by the horns with a story that celebrates vulnerability, emotional honesty, and the audacity to still believe in love.

Known to millions as MostlySane on YouTube, where her comedic sketches have made her one of India’s most loved digital creators, Koli now turns author with a debut that’s all heart and humour.

Her romantic novel Too Good To Be True will be showcased at the ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair, where Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Entertainment, Lifestyle and Sport Editor at Gulf News, will moderate a candid conversation with Koli on Friday, November 7, from 9 to 10 p.m. The session is free to attend.

At its core, the book tells the story of Avani, a bookstore employee navigating heartbreak and healing, and Aman, a dreamy tycoon who seems too good to be real. Their romance is both imperfect and uplifting — a reflection of Koli’s own take on modern love.

“I didn’t expect it to be a book, actually,” Koli laughs in an interview ahead of her SIBF appearance tonight.

“I expected it to be a show. I started writing it as a six-part series, and it somehow, in writing excerpts of ideas and characters, it ended up becoming chapters, and then I kind of just took it from there. It wasn’t a very intentional decision.”

Despite the accidental start, Too Good To Be True feels deliberate in its emotional honesty. It doesn’t sugarcoat love or healing.

“I think the balance actually comes more from the characters than it comes from the romance,” she says. “Aman is extremely rosy. He’s straight out of a romance book. And Avani is actually very, very real and she’s flawed. That’s what makes her beautiful. That’s what makes her vulnerable. And I think that is where the magic really happened for me.”

“You cannot expect somebody to love you unless you know how you want to be loved”

The novel poses a deeply human question — can you love someone else when you haven’t healed yourself?

“That actually is, you know, I have a two-part answer for this,” Koli explains. “The first part is that while I was writing this, it kind of bloomed by itself. The whole self-love side of things took its own shape. And secondly, this is one of the most beautiful lessons I’ve learned for myself, especially in the past four or five years. I turned 32 this year, and the older I get, the more I get in touch with myself. I realised that you cannot expect somebody to love you unless you know how you want to be loved.”

For Koli, that realisation shaped both the story and her own understanding of emotional independence.

“Avani’s life is fictional,” she says, “but her humanity and her vulnerability come from me. I think a lot of the flaws actually come from me. There’s a lot of floof around them, but the vulnerability 100% comes from me.”

Romance, she insists, isn’t just a genre for her — it’s a calling.

“Romance is the only genre right now that I want to write, watch, read. I only want to do that. I love it with all my heart,” she says. “

Deep down, I think I’m 80% romantic and 20% realist. I used to be a 100% romantic, but that just got me into a lot of trouble and stupid situations,” she grins.

But unlike typical romantic fiction, Koli’s story doesn’t aim to avoid predictability. “I don’t want to avoid anything,” she says.

“It’s an extremely ordinary story, and if you’ve read enough romance novels, it will be predictable. I always knew there had to be a happy ending. None of it really feels like, oh my God, what happens next? I wanted readers to enjoy what’s happening now.”

Much like her YouTube persona, her writing voice feels conversational, authentic, and playful.

“They’re the same voice, honestly,” Koli says. “It’s the only voice I have. My author voice and my YouTube voice are the same. I’m extremely uni-dimensional when it comes to being a storyteller. There’s one way that I look at things and one way that I express them.”

That unfiltered tone makes her writing feel intimate — like a late-night chat with a friend.

“The common reaction I’ve been getting from readers is, ‘This is the fastest we’ve ever finished a book.’ Even though it’s predictable, they didn’t hate the build-up. That’s been really fun to hear.”

Writing a novel, however, was a far cry from the instant feedback of social media.

“It was excruciatingly painful,” she says. “I was running out of patience. I was getting annoyed at my own words. I was extremely hot and cold with my book — sometimes I’d be like, ‘What is this piece of trash?’ and sometimes I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, love what I’ve done here.’ It was crazy and unpredictable.”

She credits her editor for grounding her through the process.

“I really lucked out with my publisher. Palmee, my editor at HarperCollins, was lovely — so patient. She brought so much centering to the story. My first draft was scattered, and she did a great job compiling it into a much smoother read.”

Koli believes Indian romance — in books, films, and OTT — is moving toward something deeper. “I think this is where the audience is headed, and that’s going to anchor where the stories lead,” she says. “Audiences today are so evolved and aware of what they want. Anything that doesn’t come from a place of genuine intent and vulnerability isn’t going to work.”

Her inspirations are an eclectic mix: Marathi playwright Shirish Latkar, whose one-act play Paus Pakshi was her first brush with romance, and authors like Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Radhika Aggarwal, Ruskin Bond, Emily Henry, and Liz Tomforde.

“I hit my romance book puberty quite late in life,” she laughs.

“I think I was about 27 when I picked up my first romance novel. I was like — how have I lived my entire life without this?”

When asked about AI and technology’s growing role in storytelling, Koli is candid.

“Right now, I could say that I don’t think technology could replicate the honesty of writing the book,” she says.

“But who knows three years from now? Who knows ten? As someone who’s lived almost half her life on the internet, the one lesson I’ve learned is that you surf the wave, you swim — there’s no option to stand on the shore and wave. That’s not something I’m going to do.”

As she prepares to take the stage at the Sharjah International Book Fair, Koli is soaking it all in.

“I’m just extremely grateful to my audience,” she says. “Without them, I would never have had the guts to write 300 pages, publish them, and put a price on them. There’s no way anyone could have convinced me to do this if I didn’t have the community I have online.”

Her gratitude is matched by her ambition. “It’s a beautiful time to be in the creative space,” she adds. “I feel extremely fortunate and privileged that I get to live this life and these opportunities. The fact that someone like Sharjah Book Fair even knows of my existence is huge.”

And if Too Good To Be True were adapted into a film? “Me,” she laughs. “Because that’s how it was intended to be. It’s me. I will always be Avani. Nobody else is allowed.”

For someone who built a career making people laugh, Koli’s turn toward introspection feels natural, not surprising. Her book doesn’t just tell a love story — it questions how we define love, worth, and healing in an era where everything is instant.

At 32, she’s found her voice in a new medium. As Avani and Aman remind us, love may not always be predictable — but sometimes, the ordinary can be too good to be true.