Sealed without a kiss!

Amarjot Kaur

After his first novel, Just Friends, that was followed by A Lot Like Love... a Li’l Like Chocolate, Sumrit Shahi penned a sequel to Just Friends and called it Never Kiss Your Best Friend.

While talking about his latest novel, screenwriter Sumrit makes an attempt at exploring several dimensions of the never-ending debate on if a girl and a boy can only be friends.

Both of Sumrit’s earlier novels have been national bestsellers and were translated into Hindi. However, after having graduated in media studies and film appreciation, the 22-year-old shares that his passion for writing has helped him to explore the mindset of the youth.

Sumrit is one of the youngest scriptwriters in the Indian TV industry having written for shows like Sadda Haq, Million Dollar Girl on Channel V and Veera on Star Plus.

“This is a story about two best friends, a girl and a guy, as they navigate their way from 16 to 25 while making sense of nomenclatures, fighting societal stereotypes of what their relationship is supposed to be and what they really feel,” says Sumrit.

While talking about his style of writing, Sumrit shares that his novel is a celebration of those carefree years of one’s life where friendship is paramount with friends superseding even family, “Since I am young, my writing is quite raw and relatable, yet quirky and witty,” he says.

Published by Rupa Publications India, the novel, Never Kiss Your Best Friend, was released today by Kavita Das, Principal of St John’s High School, Chandigarh and Shashi Banerjee, Principal of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula.

Sumrit shares, “I think I am able to tap on a very relatable story, which perhaps every teenager could identify with and that worked. Now, as I grew up, finished college, started working, life changed and how. Today, weighing importance on career and ambition in this competitive world has taken away from relationships. In such emotionally challenging times, you need to fall back upon a relationship that sustains and this book talks about one, as it questions the set boundaries of a relationship between a girl and boy, they say they are best friends, nothing more, but actually are soul mates,” he signs off.

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