New Delhi: Anuja Chauhan is not the kind of laid-back person who would be happy to just while away her time attending Page 3 parties.
Married to Niret, elder son of senior Congress party leader Margaret Alva, she has all along been into creative pursuits.
Author of bestseller book The Zoya Factor, she has recently launched her new book Battle for Bittora, which has been lapped up by readers.
Anuja, who spent 17 years in advertising agency J. Walter Thompson as vice-president and executive director, quit her job this year to pursue a career in writing.
To her goes the credit for advertising campaigns including Mera Number Kab Aayega (When will my number come), Pepsi's Yeh Dil Mange More (Heart yearns for more) and Nothing Official About it.
She speaks to Gulf News in an exclusive interview:
GULF NEWS: Your book Battle for Bittora is termed as the story of India's most passionate Lok Sabha elections. Are you as passionate about elections in real life?
ANUJA CHAUHAN: No, though not as passionate as the protagonists in the book are, but yes, I would call myself very definitely interested in our elections and their outcome. Although the book is about political romance, it also talks about ideals and beliefs.
Have you ever campaigned during the elections and what do elections mean to you?
Yes, I've campaigned for my mother-in-law, in her constituency of North Kanara in Karnataka. And have experienced that it's hot, sweaty, exhilarating and exhausting work. I'm pretty involved also in the sense that once you are 18 you go to vote. And I've always done.
Is there a place called Bittora in India? What gave you the idea to call it so?
No, there's no place called Bittora. The word actually means a huge pile of cow dung. And one sees bittoras all over north India. In the villages, huge mounds of cow dung are covered with straw, usually with creepers growing over them, laden with yellow flowers. Naming the constituency Bittora was kind of an inside joke on my part. But I had no intentions of making fun of anyone.
The title seems like a book on history — akin to Battle of Panipat or Hastinapur. Was it deliberate to term elections as a kind of battle?
Yes, that was the idea. Because if you observe people closely, elections are a big thing and fighting an election is nothing short of a battle.
It is an epic battle and becomes so important that you give it that much importance. But I can't say one should or maybe should not.
You've mentioned that your mother-in-law Margaret Alva's stories about her office made you write this book. Could you relate any interesting incident that is straight out of the election experience?
She would tell stories that were different — something you wouldn't expect — sometimes warm and at other times funny. Some were quite spicy and colourful. The actual stories may not be there, but I have retained the flavour. What happens is that when there is this clash of very modern, hardcore and rich people going deep into completely rural areas, there is a lot of scope for humour.
Did you yourself undergo any such incident?
There was this one time, when the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) had just been introduced, and right through the campaigning we were carrying around these EVM mockups and educating people about how to use them.
We went into one particular area, where the people said very confidently, ‘Don't tell us how to use the machine. We know everything, as the other party people have already explained all to us.' So we said, ‘Okay then, show us how you'll use the machine.' And this old lady said very confidently, ‘You press ‘this' button [pointing to the button with the other party's symbol on it!] to "put on" the machine, and after that, you press again to vote for the party you like.'
Can you imagine! And in 30 villages, they believed it worked like this. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry over this.
Do you have any intentions of joining politics seeing a lot of educated youngsters entering politics now-a-days?
No, I have no such intentions or aspirations. I enjoy writing way too much to give it up. But I'm all for young, educated people joining politics, and they should.
Politicians are highly strung people when it comes to humour. How come no one has objected to your book — the story of Lok Sabha elections? Is it because of your influential association(s)?
I have absolutely no clue. Thankfully, all the feedback has been extremely positive.
Has any movie producer/director approached you to make a film based on Battle for Bittora?
Yes. Actually many of them have. It was all quite confusing for me and flattering too. I've finally sold the rights to Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma. I felt they really understood the book, and were passionate about it. And they paid well too!
Who approached you for filming your first novel The Zoya Factor? What's the status of the film?
Several people approached me for it. But I went with Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment production company. That's because I knew him for a long time, as we did the Pepsi ad together. Plus, I trust him. I'm not very sure what the status is on the film.
Have you set any conditions regarding the filming, credits, etc?
No, not really. I do have consultation rights though.
Can you tell us some interesting stories behind your advertising days?
Pepsi was an all-consuming brand to work on — exhilarating and demanding. There was a lot of pressure — most of it self-inflicted! We used to run around like crazy, turning films around sometimes in 48 hours. Thankfully, now the cola wars have cooled down somewhat.
How do you view your marriage to Niret?
Our marriage is a success story. I think it's mostly because he's the eldest of four children and I'm the youngest of four children.
He's got a very caring, protective, I'll-look-after-you mentality and I have a very spoilt-youngest-brat-the-world-revolves-around-me mentality.
So we fit well together. He's a great father — very grounded, very giving, very disciplined — a great role model for the kids. Both brothers, Niret and Nikhil are into the same thing — televison — in all its various, all-consuming forms.
What is your next book going to be about?
It will be about cooking. I have got lots of initial ideas and will start work on it early next year.
Factbox
- Anuja Chauhan was born on September 17, 1970, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
- Graduated in Economics Honours from Miranda House, University of Delhi - 1991.
- Diploma in Mass Communications from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology — 1992.
- Joined J. Walter Thompson (JWT) (then Hindustan Thompson Associates) as a trainee - 1993.
- Got married to Niret Alva - 1994.
- Worked at JWT and became the youngest creative director - 1993-2010.
- Has handled prestigious brands including Pepsi, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, 7Up, Kitkat, Munch, Lays, Kurkure, Nokia and Boost.
- Won over 140 national and international awards including CAG, Abbys, Goafest, Cannes, Spikes, Asiafest and Effies.
- Currently working on fiction, film screenplays, ad film direction and advertising consultancy.
