No Time for Love

One had to be the most unbelievable adolescent girl to have not picked up a Mills and Boon while in high school. Even five years back one couldn’t have quite imagined the blue-eyed rakish Daniels could be replaced with less muscular,certainly moderately loaded,more familiar Rohits and Rahuls by the same publication. But all that happened,and the Indian version of the Mills and Boon hit the racks more than a year ago. Just a few days back,Euro Books launched Star Love Stories,romance novels in the graphic format. While it is true that India has finally got something similar to a romance genre to call its own,the works are mostly styled like their Western counterparts.

Take for example Mills and Boon. Though the Indian versions are no less entertaining than the UK imports,the works seem to follow the Mills and Boon routine to the hilt,one of the most evident reasons behind their success. “The sales figures have doubled over the last year,” says Manish Singh,general manager,Mills and Boon India. Singh confirms that when Indian writers are commissioned to write the novellas,they usually have to follow guidelines issued by the UK office. “They are of course encouraged to be original,but we do have a format of sorts – like there has to be a happy ending etc,” says Singh. The UK website of Mills and Boon comprehensively lists character highlights,story formats for its various categories. “The rhetoric,language etc of the Indian MB is very similar to its UK counterpart. Not that I am complaining,” says Debolina Roy,a MB addict and a graphic designer with an ad firm.

Uday Mathur of Euro is of the opinion that they would love to work on an Indian romance fiction in the graphic format,but that’s not happening right away. “We have procured the rights of a Scottish graphic novel. The genre is still very new in India in terms of finding writers. There aren’t many writers around who have a good understanding to how to churn up an entertaining romance novel,” says Mathur. The hunt,however,is on.