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Hear it from the storyteller...

Screenwriter-author Mushtaq Shiekh, in Amritsar to talk about his latest book, Secrets Within, pours his heart out
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The initial news reports on the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan rankled everyone, created a shock wave which was followed by lots of speculation and constant social media meme-fest. But Mushtaq Shiekh, screenwriter and author, who is close friends with Bollywood A-listers, including Shah Rukh Khan (whom he addresses as Shah), Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Tabu, Farah Khan, Ritesh and Genelia Deskhmukh, calls this incident unprecedented.

“This was unprecedented, almost bordering on bizzare, that’s why people are shocked. It happened inside a house, safety of your families compromised. This shocks you. I feel now maybe we cannot hide the fact that this is going to be the new normal. There were boundaries, people are now crossing it and now we need to do some basic hygiene test (in terms of safety) that these things don’t happen.”

Speaking at an event held for his latest book, Secrets Within, by Phulkari WOA and Majha House in Amritsar, Shiekh said the culture of excess in terms of movie stars has created challenges that have taken a turn for worse. “The rush to have more, documenting the lives of celebrities, film stars, the culture of excess is going to lead us to such situations, whether it’s on social media or the papparazi culture. We need to be ready for new challenges, re-think our safety norms.”

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He also shared an incident when personal space of some film actor was invaded in public, without any concern for the reaction. “The actor was eating out with the family and some fans approached for a picture. They were politely asked if it could wait and the reply from the fan was, ‘no, we are getting late’. I mean, it gets tedious for film stars as well after a while and when the lines between adoration and obsession blur, problem arises.”

Friends with King Khan

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Of course, being friends with the King of Bollywood and star of stars, Shah Rukh Khan, has made Mushtaq privy to this fan-obsession. “People are obsessed with him. They are in awe and he has that charm to demand your attention when he walks into a room. So, it’s natural,” he says. Sharing how there was a time when SRK’s interview got rejected by a leading magazine, Mushtaq recalled, “I first met him when he was still doing television and got an interview with him. He was so articulate. But my editor rejected the piece as Shah Rukh was not a star. I knew this interview had to be published and so I found 30 other Khans, who were struggling to make it big in films, and spoke to them, got the story together and got it published,” he shared.

That was also the beginning of his journey as a writer. “I owe a major part of my writing career to SRK, as he forms the subject of my earlier three books, including Still Reading Khan, his biography.”

Love for thrillers

Shiekh, who wrote scripts for RaOne, Om Shanti Om and Billu, has now come up with his first fiction novel, Secret Within, a crime thriller, which he confesses is his favourite genre. “Thriller is my first love, I consume so much thriller fictions that now anyone who knows me knows this. Unpredictability, how it stumps the reader, is what makes it work. The book is written in a series format, where three more books will follow—Secrets Buried, Secrets Forgotten and Secret Exposed. But each book stands out individually as well,” he says.

As a screenwriter, Mushtaq says films are a collective process, where many people and their creatives are involved in completing the final product. “It is quite commerce driven, which books not necessarily are. But my storytelling also comes from films, as my mind works that way. The pace can be felt in the book. Today, most authors know that they need to sustain the readers’ attention because they are competing with social media, OTTs as competition.”

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