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Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari: Power of words has a long lasting emotion
Bollywood director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, who has made powerful films such as Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly Ki Barfi, feels it’s actually words that are more “powerful”. Her debut book, Mapping Love, shows her love for writing, and more.
Stories are all around us. One just needs to know the right place to look. And for inquisitive minds, who are always brimming with ideas and characters, it’s not difficult a task. Same was the case with film director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, when she sat down to write her debut book titled Mapping Love. Best known for her cinematic works such as Nil Battey Sannata (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and Panga (2020), she shares that one should learn from and enjoy the process, than think of the destination. “It’s like climbing the mountain,” says Tiwari, adding, “As a storyteller, I’m brewing with ideas all the time. Sometimes the idea takes a different shape while writing. Also, each reader will connect with the book differently, making it their own. A novel has its own space and time; it’s read without any constraint of limiting oneself. All you need is the book in hand and your undivided attention in a journey between you and your book.”
Her book takes the reader to the journey of the character of Oorja Chaturvedi, whose relationship with her parents and quest to find love is thus explored. “The independent mind of Oorja, the relationship with the forest and nature lessons and inward looking philosophical nature of her questions, self answering thoughts relate to me,” confesses Tiwari, adding, “I feel every individual growing amid societal change with respect to norms and thoughts for generation, will always have a point of view about how they would want to lead their life. The thought process changes with each generation where we question the why and follow what we think is correct. Oorja is a prototype of this changing mindset in the youngster who will have a definite say even when they are confused about their life journey. Most of the time to come back to starting point again.”
There is solitude in writing, and Tiwari wanted to experience it while penning it. She says, “Every reader will consume the writing differently. That’s the magic of writing a novel. It evokes suppressed feelings. It takes you to the future. It takes you back to a memory... it makes you cry, angry or smile in silence. Sometimes you take sides, sometime it’s the journey you start associating yourself with. The power of words have a long lasting emotion which can be picked up from where you stopped. A book always welcomes you with open arms.”
Also an advocate for making reading a habit, she opines, “It’s important to gift yourself the art of being patient and focussed in this fast-paced world. Books also encourage many storytellers who have spent many years writing this form of art. I also encourage the art of going to a bookstore and reading. Buying books from a book store has its own charm, and we also add value to saving and keeping our bookstores alive.”
Quite often, one body of work inadvertently influences the other. So did her film or ad writing influence her book? Stating how it’s not about what one writes, but how one writes a piece of story in the chosen medium, is important, Tiwari says, “It’s important to be very conscious about it. So when I was writing a novel, I kept it in a space that if I had to read this book, what will be the emotions that should evoke in my mind? The same is with writing for movies. If I’m writing a screenplay, what world of emotions I’m taking the audience to. Once my purpose of writing and questioning myself with the answers is cleared, the medium is the thread that weaves the story. Being an avid reader and student of life, I like researching on various creatives across the world, on how they write, their schedule, how does one day in their creative life of writing looks like. I read, hear their interviews and absorb all these works and then make my own course. There are no rules because every journey is different, and as creators we need to make them most comfortable for ourselves.”
Author tweets @Nainaarora8
