MAYA ROSE FERNANDES
Bina Nayak left a corporate career in Mumbai to return to Goa, the land of her roots, ten years ago, and recently completed her first novel. Not just that, the work has been made into a movie, too.
She recently spoke to GT Digital about the success of her debut novel, Starfish Pickle, which was adapted for the screen, and shot earlier this year. It will be released soon under the title, Starfish, on Netflix and Sony TV.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your background.
I’m an advertising and media professional, graduated from Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai. My last corporate job was as Head of the Design Cell at The Walt Disney Company HQ in Mumbai. I quit in 2012, but continue to consult and work as a graphic designer and illustrator for advertising agencies and clients.
My parents are both Goan. My dad is from Parra, he left Goa for further studies in Bombay, and my mom left Chorao after marriage. I moved to Goa about 20 years ago.
What is Starfish Pickle all about?
My novel is basically about my love affair with water. Set against the backdrop of Saligao, in North Goa, it deals with the traumas of relationships, of disappointment in love and life itself. The main protagonist is a commercial diver called Tara Salgaonkar. It’s an illustrated novel (not a graphic novel).
What inspired you to write this book?
Many things, but chief among those was when Arundhati Roy wrote God of Small Things. She gave many untrained writers like myself, a lot of hope. Here was somebody who was an architect by training, and she had crafted a beautiful story set in her own native village.
Tell us about the writing process involved in this book.
I started writing it in 2001, and finished it in two months. On showing it around, the feedback I received was that my main character, Tara, was not likable. I did not have the bandwidth to make revisions as I was in a stressful work situation. I was at Ogilvy, and working close to 16-hour days, and I had a small child.
So I put the book aside and forgot all about it. I moved to Goa in 2003 and after a few years here, I revived it. But, I was equally busy with design work in Goa. However, when there was a work lull during the monsoon for a few weeks, I would revisit my manuscript and update it.
How did you go about getting it published?
I used to design covers for Frederick Noronha, founder of the publishing company Goa 1556. In fact, he pushed me to revive the book, but nothing happened because he wasn’t confident about publishing a fiction book.
At some point, I was going to delete it because it had become a stumbling block for me. I had other stories to tell, but felt like I had to get this first one out of my system. So, I queried several agents, and Anish Chandy of Labyrinth Agency responded almost immediately. He managed to get me a publishing deal with Srishti Publishers, Delhi, and a film deal with Almighty Motion Picture and T-Series.
How did this book go from publication to screen?
I pitched the novel to my agent in 2018 and they took me on as a client, but I had to make major changes to the book. In 2021, it turned out that the COVID pandemic was a good time to pitch for screen adaptations. The book got published and pitched to producers.
By 2022, the financing, casting, crew and dates were falling into place. They shot the movie in 2023, in Malta, though the novel is set in Goa itself. At the end of 2023, the movie was released in movie theatres, and sometime early next year it will be out on Netflix and Sony TV. I was told that most books acquired for screen don’t make it because the project dies at one of the stages mentioned above.
Being lucky is more important than being good. Also, this timeline moved pretty quickly, which is also highly unusual for book to box office adaptations.
What has been your experience so far with it going to screen? Were you involved in the scriptwriting, for example?
I was not involved with the script writing. The director, Akhilesh Jaiswal, who’s assisted on Gangs of Wasseypur and Ugly, is himself a writer. But, every once in a while, I was updated with the films casting, the shooting etc. The main cast is Milind Soman, Khushali Kumar, Ehan Bhat, Tusshar Khanna, Vidya Malwade and Nikhat Khan.
I got to spend a day with the main actor – Khushali Kumar at her Mandrem bungalow, just chatting and getting to know about the shoot.
What are the next steps for you?
My second novel will be published by Harper Collins in early Feb 2024. A third is completed, not sent out as yet. The fourth I’m currently working on, in between my design assignments. I would like to add here that design is still my day job, I write at night. Design is my bread and butter. Writing is my jam!