As part of the #Read_Film initiative launched by the Sharjah Office, the World Book Capital, the Sharjah International Book Fair hosted Indian actress and writer Anuja Shushan, bestseller “Zoya Factor”, and famous actress Sonam Kapoor who starred in the film inspired by her famous book, An inspiring session in which the audience reviewed aspects of their busy professional and artistic career and the outstanding experience that brought them together in love with the word.
The session, entitled “From the Book to Bollywood”, was moderated by media professionals Chris Fidd and Pretty Malik, where they discussed with their guests their creative experiences and the stages of their relationship with reading and their book-inspired artwork.
Asked why she had to give up a career spanning more than 17 years in advertising for major brands to enter the world of writing and novels, Anouja said: “My passion for writing has been since I was in school, where I used to write theater scripts, and then "I studied economics at the undergraduate level and paved the way for me to start working in this field."
“At a later stage I started to feel the need to change the nature of my profession in advertising, which required me only a few minutes of filming, and here I decided to go through my own life experience and to start working in a field I love. "A unique intellectual freedom with which I could not resist the magic of writing."
"When I was young, I used to steal books from my mother's library," Kapoor said. "Every book I read had a profound intellectual experience that helped shape my character today."
She expressed her concern for the current situation of the generations in the digital age, which negatively affected their will and ability to patience, and had a major role in distracting them and away from reading, and pointed to the need to revive the culture of reading in the hearts of people and make them aware of the importance in their lives.
In response to a question Chris asked about the artistic and intellectual legacy each guest wants to leave alive in the memory of future generations, Chauhan said: “The Sutable Boy (the right young man) by Vikram Seth is an inspiration to me. Several, and I look forward to someday literary work of this level ».
Kapoor expressed her interest in acting in recent releases of popular Indian classics such as Pandini and Gayd. “Rosy is my favorite character in Gayd, a girl with more thought and awareness than her generation. Time, I hope to play such a role in the future ».