Prajakta Koli on her unexpected journey to writing debut novel

Prajakta Koli (File Pic)

"I've been writing all my life," came the immediate reply when we asked Prajakta Koli what prompted her to write a book.

Koli, who has traversed mediums to entertain audiences, has now donned the hat of an author with her debut novel ‘Too Good To Be True' - a romantic tale involving, well, "too good to be true" characters and moments that weave a heartfelt story.

Journey of the book

"It started with journaling every day, which expanded to writing blog posts and scripts for YouTube videos," she tells us, reflecting on how the seed of storytelling was planted.

"During lockdown, I wanted to explore long-form content, essentially screenwriting ideas that I could pitch to producers and OTT platforms as shows. Because there was so much time, I started working on some ideas. We also put forth writers' rooms for a few of them. But I found this one idea to be so exciting that I wanted to see what I could do with it. I started telling the story. Initially, I visualised it as a dual-POV series, so I started writing voice-overs from that perspective. Eight excerpts in, my team told me that these seem like full-fledged chapters. Writing a book was never the plan, but that's how it was born," Koli reveals.

She saw it through after announcing it officially in July 2023.

Ask her if the recent trend of content creators and influencers writing books played a role in her journey as an author, and she is quick to say, "I have so much respect for everyone who writes non-fiction. I think it's extremely daring. Lilly Singh, Masoom Minawala, Harshita Gupta have all written amazing books. But I don't think I have it in me to do that right now. Because it is fiction, I could at least attempt to write it."

Prajakta Koli launched her debut novel 'Too Good To Be True' on January 13 at an event in Mumbai

Writing a novel can be a daunting journey. For Koli, making peace with the lack of consistent outcomes each day was the biggest challenge.

"I once read a quote that said writing is not tough, but sitting down to write is. The toughest part was the uncertainty of how productive I could be each day. There were days when I would sit for hours and write one mediocre paragraph, and rewrite it over and over. Then there were days I would write three chapters in an hour. This constant imbalance in planning threw me off," she says.

On the other hand, she reminisces, "The most rewarding experience was just the realisation that I have ended up writing a book. Whether it's good or bad is secondary, but the fact that I got through this and showed up for the book each day was extremely self-affirming,"

‘Too Good To Be True' narrates the story of Avani, who loves romance novels, and Aman, who seems to have come straight out of the pages of those books.

Did Koli take any inspiration from her love life in shaping these characters?

"I know Aman has brown eyes and a dimple, and my fiancée Vrishank has brown eyes and a dimple, but that's it! There are no similarities and the story is purely fictional," she quips.

Voice of the book

Pushing the envelope of storytelling, Koli and her team also released an original soundtrack and music video for the book before its launch. The song ‘Saanvare' has been written, composed and produced by Outsky with additional vocals by the author herself.

Taking us through the journey of the song, Koli says, "A huge chunk of my audience may not be regular readers, but everyone loves music and romance. The idea was to weave this romance with visuals."

"Secondly, as a reader, every time I read a romance book, I wish there was a face or visual or landscape to relate it to. I wanted this soundtrack to make that happen. We shot the music video in Landour, Mussorie, and the first snow of the season also occurred then. So, everything fell into place beautifully," she adds.

Beyond public eye

Koli has often been called ‘relatable', having honest conversations through her YouTube videos. Her fans have also seen her in different roles on screen, but who is Prajakta Koli beyond the public eye?

"Not very different," she is quick to respond.

"I find a lot of value in the relationships I have - whether it's of me as a creator with my audience, as an author with my readers, as a daughter with my parents, as a partner with my fiancée, as a friend, a sister, and more. My inner circle has been my biggest strength always," she states.

"But when I am alone, I am probably napping," Koli remarks.

Quick questions with Prajakta Koli

What does love mean to you?

PK: Love is just finding beauty in ordinary things. I don't want to chase quirks or things you do differently. I want to chase things you and I have in common, really small ordinary things.

Which is your favourite romance novel?

PK: Twisted Games by Ana Huang

Which is your favourite romance movie/show?

PK: There are many - Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, among others. My favourite romance show is the recently released ‘Nobody Wants This', and ‘Mismatched', of course.

Would you ever write an autobiography? If yes, what would the title be?

PK: I have no clue. I think you have to take yourself really seriously to write an autobiography. Maybe eventually, sometime.

What do you like more being recognised as - a creator, actor or writer?

PK: A creator