'Indian fiction chained in suffocating tradition'

Mohan Deep, author of a series of unauthorised biographies on Bollywood's actresses, claims that his new novel "The Five Foolish Virgins" brings a fresh lease of life to Indian fiction, drawing upon real life.

"Indian fiction is a woman fettered and chained with the suffocating tradition. My story is about real people and their ambitions, desires, strengths and weaknesses," Deep told IANS.

"These are the people I have seen during my journey into Bollywood and the media," he added.

The 65-year-old author has been synonymous with controversy. He was criticised for bringing out dark secrets of actresses like Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Rekha, through unauthorised biographies "The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala, It's My Life" "Simply Scandalous: Meena Kumari" and "Eurekha!", respectively.

"I wanted my biographies to bring out the real, colourful personalities I was writing about. I wanted people to know that Madhubala had a hole in her heart and she was vomiting blood before giving a shot and that her father pushed her to do more and more. I wanted her fans to know how Dilip Kumar exploited, harassed and abused the beautiful actress," Deep said.

"Rekha had always been in denial mode. Friendly journalists would ask her about her suicide attempt, and she would wish it away. She would wish away her marriages too. She would never admit that she was caught shoplifting in London's expensive store Selfridges.

"British papers carried the story about how the store detectives found stolen trinkets on her person. She wished it away. I investigated each story, double-checked," he added.

Deep started as a short story writer and his published work includes over 200 short stories. Apart from the biographies, he also wrote a novel on Feng Shui.

With his new novel "The Five Foolish Virgins", Deep focusses on the relationship Bollywood shares with the media.