LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
SP: I’m a screenwriter turned author who started writing by writing screenplays and then ventured into publishing for the stories I could not tell through films.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
SP: My writing process is very simple, I don’t write until I’m highly invested in an idea. Once I’m I don’t stop until I feel exhausted. My companion is a good cup of ginger tea. I do my best writing during the night.
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
SP: I would say my last book because that was an idea in which I was highly invested. The book is an anthology of short stories about faith.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
SP: My favourite character is someone who is deep in his thought process, I write shallow characters too but a character who has substance is my favourite character to write.
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
SP: Yes, there are many and all of them influence my work. To name a few I would say, Salman Rushdie, Franz Kafka, and Sadat Hasan Manto.
Other than books I’ve invested a good amount of time in screenwriting and a lot of screenwriters influenced me. I highly respect Charlie Kaufman, Coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and Vince Gilligan.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
SP: Very well! I guess if you have written something published or unpublished and if you completed it then you are used to staying inside. I guess most of writers must be doing well. I hope, pray and wish the best of health to everyone.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
SP: I do talk to a few acquaintances in the film industry and would be happy to work as screenwriter on a project when the opportunity arrives or if I get invested in an idea perhaps a book.
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
SP: Yeah, keep writing. Keep fit.