5 Reasons Why Durjoy Dutta Is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian Romance Fiction

Yes, it is true that success is a subjective term and can be measured in different ways. Durjoy Dutta, one of India’s best-selling romance novelists, might be considered “repetitive”, “crappy”, “overrated,” and so on, yet one cannot deny that he holds the numbers for having the highest-selling romance novel in India and is the unparalleled king in this trope. So, today we give you 5 Reasons why Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction.

The minute I start reading, I’m itching to write my own thing.

-Durjoy Dutta.

Well, isn’t that the thing with all those who are hungry to create their next best possible piece of work as soon as they create one brilliant craft and immediately embark upon the next? Exactly my point here. A person who has gotten into romance as far as possible is our very own King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan. Yes, I am referring here to none other than Durjoy Dutta, one of India’s most beloved romance novelists and screenwriters. A writer who is so deeply into romance (literally, no pun intended; he and his wife make the cutest couple peeps!) has always been the reason for us to celebrate and look at romance in a way that has not only made us celebrate it but also paved the way for reading, especially in a country like India where there are very few writers who have been writing in this genre before.

So, today let me give you all five reasons why I think Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction. Yes, as one of India’s most celebrated Authors, it is his sheer charm and magic that he tends to cast upon his readers that have kept him absolutely spellbinding. The exuberance with which he crafts his work, the resonance that comes across through his stories, and the romance that builds therein are contrary to other attempts where writers simply make upon the face value of “so-called “love.

Why Durjoy Dutta?

For Durjoy, quoting him in his very own words, romance has meant different things at different points in life. When he was younger, it was all the mushy stuff like, This is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, but with time, these thought procedures changed to trying to live with someone with whom you could share everything and have a witness to your life.

Durjoy, whose candid thoughts on romance actually strike a chord with audiences and have been doing so for years now, has always felt that even more important than creating the romantic bit in the story are the characters. He always iterates that he always tries to write characters that he wants to fall in love with. He loves the characters he curates, and he loves what he creates.

Early life

Born in Gujarat into a Bengali Hindu family, Durjoy was raised in New Delhi and did his mechanical engineering in Gurgaon and Germany. He quit his job as a marketing manager at American Express in 2011 and went on to become a full-time writer.

While still in college, his debut work, “Of Course, I Love You,” was highly acclaimed and loved, depicting the love lives of young Indians. His second work, “Now that You’re Rich!” too received rave reviews, making him climb up the ladder of successful writers on the romance horizon. His fourth work, “Ohh, Yes, I am Single! co-written by him and Neeti Rustagi, primarily drew inspiration from his own life. His fifth book, You Were My Crush!, which came out in 2011, reached the No. 3 spot on the Hindustan Times bestseller list. Since then, there has simply been no looking back for him.

Love Life

Marrying the love of his life, travel blogger and air hostess Avantika Mohan has perhaps been the catalyst of Durjoy’s life, helping him depict love and the intricacies of a romantic relationship with such startling alacrity. Did you know, for instance, that Durjoy has this little writing ritual of describing bits about Avantika in each of his books? Now, that is what I call super romantic, right? So, before I proceed to tell you guys 5 Reasons why Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction, let me give you a little bit of the infamous “Durjoy-Avanti” love story:

• He named the protagonist in his first book after her after he met her through common friends. That was when he was also writing his first.
• So, the usually shy and subdued Durjoy eventually proposed to her online since he knew that Avantika would like a proper wedding proposal, and this was a way he could think of without attracting much attention. And yet, when somehow a lot of people who hadn’t even read his books joined in on it and it got blown up, Avantika was ecstatic too!
• Describing him Avantika has candidly stated, “He’s cute, and he writes. Also, he’s not like a “man” man. As in, he doesn’t wear his masculinity on his sleeve, which is refreshing.”

So, these two, who still continue to be love birds even after the arrival of their little one, give the best possible and simplest advice on holding onto one’s partner forever: “Only hold on if it’s the most natural thing that comes to you.”

Hmm, now I get why he is so popular—Durjoy, I mean. But, yes, there are many other reasons why Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction (apart from his dimples, of course!) So, here are 5 Reasons why Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction:

Unparalleled mastery of love

Yes, when it comes to exploring and portraying love, his central theme, he is a true master. Portraying it with closer-to-life relatability, Durjoy always aims to capture it the way love truly feels.

Depiction on true face value

Yes, love in his books is “not eternal” but “quies promisques,” aka subject to life and its unpredictability. That is a factor that makes it closer to us.

Accessible and down-to-earth

What I mean here are his stories. Yes, millennials today, especially Gen Z, do not want to indulge in movies where the male lead and the female lead are so impossibly cast and plotted that they are absolutely out of their league to consider. Nobody wants to read about a dewy-eyed princess or a frog-turned-prince kind of character anymore. It has more to do with what is given and delivered at a much closer-to-life face value.

Experimentality

As a writer who has matured, if one were to consider Durjoy’s latest, it tackles themes far beyond romance. Discussing even Twitter trolling and the perils of virality and cancel culture, his previous “Wish I could tell you”, shows his outing as experimenting with further themes and adding the love trope only as a garnish,” as he likes to put it. Also, his signature dark humour, a part of his characters’ outings, is evolving and has made his books more exciting than before, especially for Gen Z.

“The boy meets the girl, and sparks follow.”

Yes, an idea that never fails. Durjoy has been primarily working around this concept, making sure that this trope, which is possibly the readers’ favourite sensitive nerve, is given due acknowledgement. Yes, the typical “boy meets girl” trope is one we always like to indulge in, especially after a long, dreary day at work, especially when all we want to read is something light and indulgent. (Not to forget the racy “sex” he also manages to put in his stories!)

Yes, the dimpled boy, who has come a long way as a writer, continues to rule the charts as far as romance is concerned.

I hope you guys liked my thoughts on why I think Durjoy Dutta is the “Shah Rukh Khan” of Indian romance fiction.

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Adios Amigos!

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle,’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.