Agogh' about poppy flowers

Vish Dhamija believes that at some point in life, everyone should decide what they really want. “Writing drives me,” says Vish, a digital marketer, who went on to become one of the popular Indian crime fiction writers in a span of nine years. His first book Nothing Lasts Forever was published in 2010. Now, his eighth book The Heist Artist has hit bookstores. “It’s been long, though not as long as it has been for some authors,” he says. “My first was kind of a bucket list thing, and I thought that was it. But the book didn’t stop selling. I took up writing seriously only in 2014 with Bhendi Bazaar. Then on, it’s been an enthralling journey,” he adds.

The Heist Artist narrates the story of Vaga Pratap, a conman, who is on a mission to track down and steal the popular Vincent Van Gogh painting Poppy Flowers, which was smuggled to India after it went missing from a museum in Egypt in 2010. Vish says he got the idea during one of his visits to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. “Besides being wowed by his brilliant work, I paid attention to the guide who told us that Van Gogh’s paintings happen to be one of most stolen pieces of art. That put the worm in my brain, and the research started almost immediately,” he says.

Once he completed the research on art theft, he realised Van Gogh’s Poppy Flowers has been stolen twice. “It hasn’t been found since 2010, I thought it was a great piece of fact to plot a fictional narrative around,” he adds.

An admirer of crime fiction, he says venturing into the genre has been a natural progression. “Since the beginning, I’ve read crime fiction in various forms: Phantom and Mandrake comics were crime fiction; so were Adventures of Tintin, Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven, Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. I somehow never got into romance or mythology or fantasy, so writing crime fiction was a logical choice,” he says.

He loves the dark psychological thrillers of James Ellory and Lawrence Sanders. “The list of current authors is endless really — I like authors and books where the narrative is as important as the storyline,” explains Vish, who has authored eight books.

Ask him about his biggest challenging book, he says, “Each one of them have been equally challenging in their own distinct way. While some require extensive research about places and police procedures, some require a deep understanding of the law (for legal thrillers) and others, a fundamental understanding of the human mindset (and motivation) — because at the end of it all, it needs to sound realistic. According to me, characterisation is the heart of storytelling. If you don’t understand people, find some other vocation,” he says.

Vish has a book scheduled at the end of the year and one next year. “I’ve been approached for adaptations (for some books) for the screen, but let’s see how the year pans out, fingers crossed,” he concludes.