Dans le cadre de l'édition spéciale de Tehelka sur les habitudes littéraires en Inde pour l'année 2009.
Is there a book that changed / transformed your life -- how / why?
Yes, there is. It is a play, which I read a long time ago. It was written by Georges Bernard Shaw in 1903 and is called Man and Superman. We performed a part of it and we called it Don Juan in Hell (Act 3 Scene 2). This is a piece of writing that definitely influenced and changed my life in many ways. First, as an actress, certainly because I finally figured out what I was doing wrong as such and I started to look for ways to change my problems and sort them out. It was a complete revolution. I can’t say it was a breakthrough because I don’t think I got it right. I think I was quite unable to improve my mistakes at that point. I started thinking about it in a much more serious manner. And I finally managed to correct some of them. It changed my life as an actress and as a human being because this play really talks about man in relationships, in the most interesting way that I came across.
At least one character that you find memorable...
I find interesting the English writer Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, and particularly the two characters Psmith and Jeeves. They always have the most perfectly and appropriate thing to say in every situation. They have solutions to every problem. Besides, they are funny and unbelievable.
In everything you have read, who would count as the most inspirational character you have ever encountered -- and why?
I can’t think of any character as such. But I can think of writers who have inspired me completely. John Berger (English writer) has. All are writers who opened my eyes. Among the fiction writers, I would probably say that Amitabh Ghosh (Indian Bengali author), John McPhee really made me think quite differently from what I was used to. They have changed my way of looking at the world, each of them in a completely different way.
Which book would you recommend to someone who reads only one book a year -- and why?
I recommend an author (whom I can't remember the name) who wrote a book about the Mahabharat, which is absolutely wonderful. Everyone should read it. It talks about Mahabharat in a very contemporary way. It talks about the characters and their dilemmas in a much more personal manner than the Mahabharat itself, with interpretations that make a lot of sense to me. It is a short version of the Mahabharat, in which the story becomes more important than the characters. And I would like to recommend any of Ismat Chughtai’s work. I think that particularly women would find the books extraordinarily accurate, even in our contemporary world, because she wrote in 1930s but her stories are completely accessible and relevant for today's world.
Who would you count as your funniest writer?
P G Wodehouse definitely.
Is there a book that changed / transformed your life -- how / why?
Yes, there is. It is a play, which I read a long time ago. It was written by Georges Bernard Shaw in 1903 and is called Man and Superman. We performed a part of it and we called it Don Juan in Hell (Act 3 Scene 2). This is a piece of writing that definitely influenced and changed my life in many ways. First, as an actress, certainly because I finally figured out what I was doing wrong as such and I started to look for ways to change my problems and sort them out. It was a complete revolution. I can’t say it was a breakthrough because I don’t think I got it right. I think I was quite unable to improve my mistakes at that point. I started thinking about it in a much more serious manner. And I finally managed to correct some of them. It changed my life as an actress and as a human being because this play really talks about man in relationships, in the most interesting way that I came across.
At least one character that you find memorable...
I find interesting the English writer Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, and particularly the two characters Psmith and Jeeves. They always have the most perfectly and appropriate thing to say in every situation. They have solutions to every problem. Besides, they are funny and unbelievable.
In everything you have read, who would count as the most inspirational character you have ever encountered -- and why?
I can’t think of any character as such. But I can think of writers who have inspired me completely. John Berger (English writer) has. All are writers who opened my eyes. Among the fiction writers, I would probably say that Amitabh Ghosh (Indian Bengali author), John McPhee really made me think quite differently from what I was used to. They have changed my way of looking at the world, each of them in a completely different way.
Which book would you recommend to someone who reads only one book a year -- and why?
I recommend an author (whom I can't remember the name) who wrote a book about the Mahabharat, which is absolutely wonderful. Everyone should read it. It talks about Mahabharat in a very contemporary way. It talks about the characters and their dilemmas in a much more personal manner than the Mahabharat itself, with interpretations that make a lot of sense to me. It is a short version of the Mahabharat, in which the story becomes more important than the characters. And I would like to recommend any of Ismat Chughtai’s work. I think that particularly women would find the books extraordinarily accurate, even in our contemporary world, because she wrote in 1930s but her stories are completely accessible and relevant for today's world.
Who would you count as your funniest writer?
P G Wodehouse definitely.
