Calling me a pulp writer is a misnomer in today’s times of kindle” says Amit Khan

AMIT KHAN (of the best-seller Bichchoo Ka Khel), tells JYOTHI VENKATESH in this exclusive and intimate in depth interview.

The very extra prolific writer of pulp fiction Amit Khan, who has ushered in a big revolution in the world of books and crime based novels is also known as the last of the Pulp Fiction writers the country has ever produced till date.

When I met the middle aged handsome writer at his apartment in Mumbai the other day, he admitted that he is proud to have made writing pulp fiction his career inspired by Devki Nandan Khatri who had pioneered the genre way back several decades ago, followed by the most popular wordsmith Gulshan Nanda whose book Jheel Ke Us Paar which was made into a film sold more than fifteen lakhs of copies, which is an all time record in India, since today the pulp fiction has been recognized by even big publication houses like say Penguin, which also concedes that Amit Khan has cultivated with his work hundreds and thousands of fan followers for himself and hence readership has always been very high for a writer like him.

Amit Khan also lamented that though big publication houses have started according to him respect that he feels he richly deserves, it is indeed sad that the government looks at the writers condescendingly and do not even consider the likes of him for bestowing with forget a national award, even a coveted award like say Padmashri or Padma Vibhushan during the lifetime of any writer of pulp fiction.

In fact, in the same breath, Amit Khan also concedes that the word pulp fiction is indeed a misnomer in today's times.

Amit Khan also states proudly that each novel of his popular novel Commander Karan Saxena ,which is now up in sixty volumes, can be made with each novel as one season of a web series today.

When I ask Amit whether his book Commander Karan Saxena could be compared with Byomkesh Bakshi, he retorted rightly that while Byomkesh Bakshi is just a short story, his is a novel.

By the way, Amit Khan's novel Bichchoo Ka Khel has already been made as a web series by none other than the TV Czarina Ekta Kapoor who is very fond of his novels and is very keen on making many more web series based on his fast selling novels.

"When any novel of mine is being readied for being made as a film or a web series, I make it a point to edit my old stories to give them a contemporary setting", adds Amit Khan who has already sold some more projects of his to Ekta Kapoor to make into different web series.

Besides Bichchoo Ka Khel, Amit Khan has also written popular series like Saavdhaan India, Haunted Nights too.

When asked what the major difference between books and films is, Amit quips that books on James Bond have always been much better than the films that were made on James Bond.

Amit reasons that the characters in a book often leave a bigger impact in the hearts of the readers than the characters in films, for the simple reason that life is often the mirror of the society and reflects life quite often the films do not give the viewers the luxury of imagining, like one does while one is engrossed while reading the books.

Amit whose novel Nirdosh as a writer as well as creative director and starring Arbaaz Khan and Manjari Fadnavis, is already streaming on Zee 5 is delighted that today books are getting a new lease of life even during the time of television, thanks to the e books on kindle which has a longer shelf life.

Not many are aware of the fact that Amit Khan who has sold the film making rights of many books of his is also an avid writer of poems though he has never published his book of poems till date.

“I have not published my book of poems for the simple reason that I have to keep my branding as a writer of novels and do not want to dilute it unnecessarily.”

Amit Khan whose forthcoming web series are Laut Aai Chhaya, Night Club and the complete Commander Karan Saxena book series (total 60 books) also laments that theft of stories is very rampant in Bollywood today.

Amit Khan also has the right logical explanation to this phenomenon too. “Majority of the people come in hordes to Mumbai with the intention of becoming an actor or a director and if they fail to become an actor or for that matter a director, their next objective is to end up as a writer in the glamorous Bollywood and what way is better than stealing the scripts of others who have written them earlier”?

The prolific writer Amit Khan who has also turned a director of late signs off. “I am also writing and directing a film called Objection My God starring talented actors like Makrand Deshpande and Sanjay Mishra besides writing a film called Kisaan starring none other than Sonu Sood.”