The Actor's debut

Tavleen Singh turns recognisable indian politics into an unsettling and absorbing fictional world.

“When the familiar becomes fiction”

Amit's crisis

Amit Singh, a fading Bollywood star, arrives at Assi Ghat in Varanasi to a crowd that has come, at least partly, to see him.

Naresh's offer

Naresh Khanna, a two-term MP and Amit's childhood friend, wants him to join a new political party committed to secularism, plurality and free speech.

Amit's transformation

Amit's life is coming apart as three films have failed, his marriage is falling apart and his fans are drifting away.

Maya's role

Maya, a discerning political journalist to whom Amit is instantly drawn, becomes both his guide to this unfamiliar world and, eventually, something more.

Guruji's power

Guruji, a former yoga guru who once lived in a Himalayan cave, has been elected prime minister four times and presides over a political order where dissent and minorities face pressure.

The performance paradox

It was his ability to build up a cult around his own personality that was his real skill.

“It was his ability to build up a cult around his own personality that was his real skill”

Political theatre

The novel offers the clue that matters most: politics has its own stage, its own stars and, as he is about to discover, its own dangers.

The Great Indian Novel

Shashi Tharoor's The Great Indian Novel recast the Mahabharata as a version of contemporary Indian political life.

Amit's journey

Amit, a Sikh by birth with a family history marked by Partition, discovers political instincts from his acting career.

Power dynamics

Maya warns Naresh about challenging Guruji, showing how power enters friendships, careers, bedrooms and private conversations.

The political stage

Varanasi, the Ganga and Assi Ghat rallies are rendered cinematically while Delhi becomes more than a backdrop.