Law and disorder

They call him the John Grisham of India, but this correspondent does not think so. No, let us be clear — Vish Dhamija is meritorious enough to be considered one of the greats, and imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery. But context breeds uniqueness, and once contextualised to India, Dhamija’s brand of legal fiction writing — the sameness of genre, by the way, is what encourages the Grisham comparisons — is heavily moulded by his Indian settings’ limitations, advantages, and nuances. So, the author may write legal fiction, but the fact that he bases it in India and the Indian legal system, makes him one of a kind. (And great at what he does.)

And what brings us to him? Rita Ferreira, in all her wit and brilliance, is out with her third book, Lipstick. Well, it might as well be her and not his third book. Dhamija comments, “When I started plotting Bhendi Bazaar (the first book with DCP Ferreira as the protagonist), I didn’t want the lead character to be just another detective, and I rejected the idea of a superhuman early in the process; I wanted someone who was outstanding, brilliant and fabulous, but still had some flaws, deficiencies and idiosyncrasies. Rita Ferreira — when you read her books — is just apt for that role. I, once, received a call from someone in Dubai who told me they spotted Rita at the airport — that’s how popular Rita has become (sadly no one recognises me anywhere).”

In Bhendi Bazaar, the reader steps into the dark underbelly of Mumbai, where Rita navigates through clues and assertions to capture the city’s first known serial killer, while the clock reads ‘24 hours to the next murder’. There’s a backstory that trails to 1982 Bombay, the Soviet Union, and the city’s escorts. With Doosra, the next in the series, drama unfolds in a similar vein in terms of setting (Mumbai), the international connect (Belgium, in this case), risky business (a consignment of diamonds here), and Rita’s second race against time. But with this thriller, anyone could be lying — within the system or not.

As for the latest, Lipstick, a psychological depth is conjured along with the dark magic, as this time we have the nefarious Lipstick Killer who is watching every step that Rita makes. This way, it isn’t hard to find some twisted-to-the-brim, convoluted-to-a-sin, plots emerge from Dhamija’s pen. But legal crime thrillers are smart reads, and smartness is as much about clarity as it is about mental challenges. How does the author pull it off? He reveals, “A good story is like an adventure, and you want your readers to immerse in the experience. However, for that to happen, you have to provide them with enough details that they can close their eyes and visualise the characters, the scene, the surroundings… It’s one of basic tenets of writing fiction — readers don’t want a long synopsis, they want a great reading experience.”

And to pull that off, he continues, “I start small — I have the idea of the story in mind — mostly the beginning (what is the crime?) and the end (how will it unfold for the protagonist/reader). Once I firm that up, then it’s a matter of designing/building around it until it looks like a story. I have learnt, over the years, that it’s important to introduce sub-plots to make an 85-90,000-word story interesting.”

Legal fiction writing 101, isn’t it? But one cannot help but wonder what is the story behind Dhamija’s interest and ability. He has to have been a lawyer. Well, not quite. He avers, “When I was younger, I wanted to be a lawyer — even studied law for one year, but it wasn’t meant to be. Years later, when I started writing, I thought I should rekindle my love of the law and, hence, started writing legal fiction.”

Moving on, one similarity between Grisham and Dhamija does come from how the latter’s work seems to be now receiving fame as the former has. As enough Grisham books were made into films, Dhamija’s Rita Ferreira series will soon become a web series. The author comments, “Netflix, Amazon, Apple and others are all competing to grab the share of the markets so it’s only logical that production houses are looking for new stories, new voices. And what better than to adapt from a book, which is already successful?”

Certainly, success has long followed in the author’s wake, but that is no excuse for him to hit the snooze button. Dhamija clarifies, “You are only as good as your last book. I have no doubts that if the readers don’t like my next two books I’ll be back in the queue behind other new authors.” However, the idea is to always come up with something new, whether in terms of story or style or storytelling.

And the idea is to remain in the reading light. So what is next for the author? “I have four books in the pipeline. The next one is out in April. Presently, I’m writing the fourth Rita Ferreira thriller,” he reveals, on a concluding note. As for us, we are much thrilled to see what Rita does when the next adversity comes her way. In either case, as long as the Dhamija-Ferreira duo is intact, thrill-seekers have little to worry about.