Interview | Mukul Ranjan | Author of Cold Cock
Author Mukul Ranjan took a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Mumbai University but did not work as a journalist. He is a director and screenwriter in Hindi film industry. “COLD COCK” is his debut novel. So, read my Interview with Author Mukul Ranjan as he talks about his book, “Cold Cock”, his writing journey and his tips for amateur writers in this post below.
Interview with Author Mukul Ranjan:
Welcome Mukul!
I am so happy to get your insights into your novel and writing process today. So, let’s get started!
Q1. Please tell us about yourself.
Hi, dear reader, my name is Mukul Ranjan. I’m working in Hindi movie and television industry as a director and screenwriter. Have my graduation from Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. And later took a Master’s degree in journalism from Mumbai University. I have been a storyteller right from my school days. So, instead of journalism I joined movie industry to tell stories. “Cold Cock” is my debut novel.
Q2. What is your book “Cold Cock” about? How will you describe it in one sentence?
“Cold Cock” is about an organisation which breathes, smiles and then meets a protracted end because of the ugly, mean shenanigans of its owners and de facto, drivers. This part of the universe is inhabited by some twisted minded people, exploiters of employees, a group of courageous friends and a totally unpredictable, now on now off, young couple. It is a simple tale of rise and fall.
In one sentence, Cold Cock can be described as a roller coaster, masala entertainer.”
Q3. How did you get the idea to write “Cold Cock”?
I had an idea about the creators of a structure destroying it themselves, gleefully. And, I wanted to set up this story in the backdrop of last financial depression in our country. Stock markets had crashed, money had evaporated from the markets and jobs had become disposable, metaphorically speaking, by the employers. Initially, I wanted to set my novel in s STD booth (if you can remember it from the early 90’s) with 5-7 employees, then I shifted this story to a nursery, a spoken English coaching institute to a plastic bucket manufacturing factory. But something was missing. I could not feel either the fizz or buzz. I was missing the mounting. Then the idea came about placing this story inside a TV channel. The characters came alive, the lingo fell in place and the story got moving at a dizzying pace.
It took me a year and some months to finish this novel. I was out working in the studios till late in the night. So, I could manage to write this novel only for 1-2 hours in the morning. If, by chance, I got a holiday, I used to utilise it by writing the whole day. (Smiles) My wife thought I was possessed, seriously. When I finished the full manuscript it had 1,00,000 plus words. It took me some time to bring it to the current level of 178 pages. In this surgical process, I chucked out several descriptive, technical, non-happening, verbose paragraphs and whole chapters. I could do it only because of my long years of experience as a director.
Q4. Do you have a specific writing style?
Style, not so much but system, yes. I wake up early in the morning when its still dark outside, around 4-5 a.m. After praanayam, brisk walk, shower and pooja I sit down to write. If I need to travel to work at a far off studio, I manage to write for 1-2 hours. If I’m shooting near my house then I end up writing for 3-4 hours in the morning. Or If I’m shooting till wee hours, this whole ideal routine of writing goes for the toss. I read without fail while commuting to work or before hitting the bed in the night. Also, I write random ideas and scenarios, anywhere. I have written movie screenplays in airport lounges, during flights, 3 hours train journeys too. Have also developed three story ideas while I was in the cubicle undergoing my CT scan, crazy!
Q5. How did you come up with this title?
(Laughs) Everybody asks me this question. So, I was waiting for this one. You know Njkinny, discovering this title is a short interesting story in itself. While I was working on this manuscript, I had a title. It was a decent title but I was looking for another great title. I believe, if you have an apt title for your book, half the battle is won. Some months passed while I was trimming this manuscript. There was no title for the manuscript.
With time, I forgot about both, the manuscript and a title. One full year had passed. Then one late night, after a hard day’s work I was having dinner at around 3.30 am and I switched on the TV and got engrossed watching a boxing bout in some tournament. It was the final round and both the boxers looked ready and hungry for a win. The two players were evenly matched. I gradually stopped eating while watching TV. One boxer punched his competitor hard above his right ear. The second boxer fell down. Then the commentator went berserk with his commentary. He said, “oh dear, oh dear, my, my, what have we got here? My goodness, Gregory has cold cocked him.” I jumped up, too. Gregory won the gold and my manuscript had a title – COLD COCK!
Q6. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Well, this should be answered by the readers and the critics who have read my novel. They can be objective, dispassionate and honest on this. I am deeply entrenched and invested in my novel. So, honestly speaking, it would be really difficult for me to talk about it.
Q7. What was your technique when planning your plot and characters?
Plotting and characterisation needed to be done in the real time manner – this was pre-decided. The effort was to make each character; major or minor play her/his part effortlessly. Also the plot was played in a different manner from the ones you regularly encounter in the novels. Then the story of Cold Cock is not one of the usual stories that we get to see. I have tried to keep it entertaining while dealing with some extremely important issues concerning the dignity of workers in the corporate workplace.
Q8. What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
I wanted to be as close to reality as possible. The idea was to present it as real people, dealing real time issues, in the most realistic manner. More than the story or the characters, the challenges were about maintaining the accuracy of the facts, mentioned in my book. I wanted to place them closest to the reality. Shooting, editing, new show proposals, FCP machines, graphics machines, technicians, directors were from my own working field, so, no issues there.
Details about shares, trading and stock markets, I took from my friends working in Mumbai’s Dalaal Street. Facts about this world, I checked and rechecked with different people there or the share brokers. For the river pirates and kidnappers angle, I spoke to several journalists and high ranking police officials from those three states to get it as real as possible. Swimming terms were used after verifying them with two state level swimmers. For efforts in harassing the people running the channel, I had long discussions with my bureaucrat friends working in different states.
And finally, as for the characters from my novel, I have tried to model them after some real people still working in the same industry. Njkinny, let me be absolutely honest with you – Cold Cock is 75% fact and 25% fiction, so as to speak. So, characters like Mynah Khan, Lolup Dilhara, Dakshina Shetty, Sartaj Singh Sekhon, Vipul Das, Swapan Sen, Sanjay Prabhu, Ravi Kant Tripathi and some more are reading COLD COCK somewhere or have already finished reading it and are laughing their guts out!
Q9. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No, nothing. Look, it’s not like I wouldn’t love revisiting it or making some changes, if required. But, by temperament, I move on after finishing a project. New challenges, new opportunities and new people excite me more. I’ll let a little secret out. I look at reviews of my book, closely, especially the negative ones. They keep me grounded and in touch with reality. Through your blog, I would like to convey my gratitude to all the readers, critics and reviewers who have read my novel and shared their thoughts.
Q10. What tips will you give to amateur writers?
Keep reading, friends. The more you read, the more clarity you will get, once you sit down to write. Don’t delay in picking up the pen or in this case, your laptop or mobile if some fresh story or idea keeps you consumed for a long, long time. It simply means, the time of that idea has come! More than success or failure, what matters more is, if she or he is learning the skill or craft of writing, willingly or not. Never forget, fellow authors – its a long haul. We’re talking about years here, yeah.
Follow Author Mukul Ranjan:
Facebook Link : www.facebook.com/mukul.ranjan.7549
Twitter Link : @mukulrnjn
Koo Link : @mysticmukul
Instagram Link : @magicalmukul
LinkedIn Link : www.linkedin.com/in/mukul-ranjan-1354621b1
E-mail : [email protected]
Author Mukul Ranjan’s Website : maverickyogicom.wordpress.com
Read the book blurb of Cold Cock by Author Mukul Ranjan:
The world of television channels is unpredictable, unbelievable, unimaginable and sometimes, unnerving and unbearable too. Ashwin, a software engineer comes to terms with this reality only after he joins the fledgling Bhojpuri TV Channel, Birha. But Mynah, a supervising producer in the channel is like a designer label. She storms in Ashwin’s world with a question, ‘Did I scare you?’
Mynah stimulates her relationship with Ashwin to cross all the limits and sizzle through the time. In no time, Birha transforms into the quicksand called Birhan. Mynah and Ashwin complicate each other’s troubled life with their freshest take on love.
Cold Cock unravels the, hitherto unknown, seedy, sleazy, murky, funny and crazy side of a TV Channel through Ashwin and Mynah’s smouldering see saw relationship.
A hilarious story, spiked by some unusual dramatic moments, keeps unfolding.
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Cold Cock by Mukul Ranjan Book Review:
Read Cold Cock by Mukul Ranjan Book Review
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