She’s revved about her novel Karachi, You’re Killing Me! being adapted into Bollywood film Noor and can't wait to see Sonakshi Sinha play the ‘notorious’ Ayesha. But does she feel Bombay can mirror Karachi?
In an interview with BBC Urdu, Saba Imtiaz delves into details of her novel's Bollywood adaptation and whether we’ll be seeing any item numbers in the upcoming film.
“I grew up watching Bollywood films and I’m very excited. I wouldn’t have ever imagined my novel to be adapted into a Bollywood film," begins Saba.
"I don’t know whether there will be any item songs in the film, or whether there will be any songs at all. But, of course, when a novel is adapted into a film, it’s not a carbon copy of it – nor should it be. In my opinion, the good elements of a novel should be taken and worked into a good story,” she continues, curiously waiting to see which aspects of her novel will be taken in the film.
However, Saba revealed that she has no say in the script or the film, but that doesn’t bother her, for her it would’ve been like “writing the whole novel again.” She’s confident that the script, and most importantly the location will do justice to the comedy crime-thriller.
“Of course Bombay will live up to Karachi,” she said, adding that her novel had been particularly influenced by Bridget Jones. “[It] had a big influence on me, but what was different for me was that Karachi itself is a character; it sculpts the way you live, changes your habits. For example, in any major city in the world, when your phone rings, you answer it immediately [regardless of where you are]. However, in Karachi, you look around before answering it, hoping not to get mugged. These are small things in comparison, but major in changing your habits. Even Bombay is a big city, it has its own set of problems, its own characteristics, so I think the film can be set in Bombay as well.”
Although the novel contains aspects of her life, she dismisses the notion that it is an autobiography. “No, it is not, I don’t connect with the character. The situations are not only written from an autobiographical perspective, but also from how I perceive things. If this were a true story, Ayesha and I wouldn't have been good friends,” she explains.
Currently, Saba is working on her second novel No Team of Angels – a serious look into the politics of Karachi and what happens beneath the surface -- which she hopes to publish this year.
Karachi, You’re Killing Me! is Saba Imtiaz’s first novel, which was published in 2014. The main character is a journalist named Ayesha, who lives in Karachi and works at an English-based newspaper. The story revolves around her life and how working in a big city influences her life.
