ALSphere Foundation
Ajitabha Bose is a popular Indian bestselling author, filmmaker and publisher. He holds the national record for publishing the smallest love storybook in India. He has a base of over a million readers and was featured in Limca Book of Records for his contribution in literature.
His book “In Love with Shah Rukh Khan” received love from all over the world. His book “The YouTube Stars of India” is an authorized book on the top YouTubers of the country including Carryminati, Amit Bhadana, Ashish Chanchalani, Technical Guruji, Prajakta Koli, Harsh Beniwal, Flying Beast, Shruti Arjun Anand, Mortal, Vinay Thakur, RVCJ Media, Vipul Goyal, Mumbiker Nikhil, Jannat Zubair & Kunal Chhabhria.
He recently published a book on the life and journey of the popular celebrity, Kapil Sharma titled “The Kapil Sharma Story.”
He is the Chairman & Co-Founder of BDL Studios, a renowned production house based in Delhi-NCR. He has worked in 550+ videos and has made 55,000+ designs till date. He recently opened his own publishing venture named Ajitabha Publishers. He’s reachable at [email protected]
Vandana Bhasin: Sir, you are a record holder in Limca Book of Records 2017. How did this idea of pocket books spring? Most of the aspiring writers would feel that they would never be able to make a mark with a pocket book, so what instilled your faith as a writer that “This can work and I want to do it.”
Ajitabha Bose: When I came up with the idea of pocket book, nobody backed me initially as it was quite new and nobody in India knew about it and I proudly say that I am probably the only author in India who got rejected by the self publishing houses as they found it risky and even laughed at me. But the concept became popular with time and the same publishers are now after me.
The idea came to me in 2014 when I was travelling back from hometown and I met a girl in my train while I was reading a book and she said, “How can you read such fat books? I don’t even get enough time to read my course books.” I was carrying my first anthology and I offered it to her to read my short story that was published in it. She read the story and really liked it and said, “Why don’t people like short stories that one can finish reading soon, like in 30 minutes or one hour?” So that day I realized that there’s a section of people who like to read books but they don’t read because of the size of the book and that’s how the idea of pocket books emerged.
After the book was published, a lot of people told me that it was a unique idea that’d never been done in India so I decided to apply for ‘Limca Book of Records and after six months, I got a confirmation from them.
Vandana Bhasin: Your book “The YouTube Stars of India” reflects on the struggles and journeys of 15 Indian YouTube stars. Not just that, you are yourself a part of the digital realm with your film making, designing and advertising ventures, and though YouTube is a fascination for the youth, it’s a much complex game. In that context, what advise or learning would you like to share with people who aspire to be YouTubers some day?
Ajitabha Bose: “The YouTube Stars of India” is a very special book for me. When I started researching about YouTubers, I realized that there is no such book that covers their journeys and how being a YouTuber has worked for them. I contacted about fifty YouTubers and fifteen of them agreed.
The book is a great source of inspiration for the upcoming YouTubers. It helps them understand how it all works, how the famous ones started and how they can chase the game.
Vandana: You recently published your book “The Kapil Sharma Story.” It is not an easy task to write the biography of a person and presenting the narrative to the world from that person’s perspective, especially if the person resides in the heart of every Indian. How different it was for you to pen a biography than writing a fiction?
Ajitabha Bose: “The Kapil Sharma Story” is the toughest book that I’ve written. It took almost four years to complete the book. The first two and a half years were the research because when you write a biography and that too of a person of fame as Kapil sir, it becomes a kind of responsibility to write the right things and of course it took time. I took his permission before writing the book and he endorsed it. I saw all his episodes on repeat mode, read his articles, listened to his interviews and it was a long process. It was quite different than fiction writing. When you are writing fiction, you can write anything and everything you want but in case of biography, you have to be very specific and accurate as you are writing about a real person. So, it was difficult but it worked out well.
Vandana Bhasin: Sir, you have published 10 books since 2013, how would you like to describe your journey and growth as a writer?
Ajitabha Bose: The journey has been fabulous. When my first book came out, a lot of people told me that I am a good storyteller but I’m not a good writer. I didn’t know anyone in the industry, I had no Godfather and there was none to guide me. I have learnt everything by myself. With years, I was told that my books were getting better. I am glad that people love and read my books. I started my journey with the passion of reading but today when I’ve sold a million copies, it feels magical.
Vandana Bhasin: We all learn immensely as we grow, what nuggets of wisdom would you like to share with other writers- young, budding as well as experienced ones?
Ajitabha Bose: I always tell my fellow authors that only three things can make one popular in India- Politics, Bollywood and Cricket. Now the fourth one that’s coming up is the writing industry and the authors are getting popular.
It’s very difficult to get into first three so people have now started writing books. Writing a book is more of a bucket list item for people now. But I would say, that don’t write a book to get famous but focus towards the story and your writing and fame will come simultaneously. Think about the larger perspective. Your story should be really good. People connected to the characters and plots in my stories and that’s what you should focus on.
