MUMBAI: Now and then: Tanveer Bookwala is no less than a maverick. A big fan of Steve Jobs and a self-confessed foodie. Tan, as he is popularly known by his friends, is obsessed with the art of storytelling. Former chief creative officer of Balaji Motion Pictures, Tanveer has produced movies like Kya Kool Hain Hum, Azhar, Flying Jatt, Ek Villan and Udta Punjab to name a few.

But pause! There is another side to this man. Bookwala has penned and even written the screenplay for Ragini MMS 2 and the web series XXX. The votary of sex and humour, this producer definitely knows how to stand out from his tribe. In 2017, he launched his own company   Ding Entertainment, which has already offered successful shows such as ALTBalaji’s Boygiri, The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family and Famously Filmfare.  We would like to mention here, his show Rasbhari, for Applause, was the first Indian show to be nominated at the prestigious Series Mania Festival.

For now, he is busy in the post-production of VOOT’s next show titled Asur, which he promises, will redefine the procedural crime drama, in the Indian OTT space.

For those who don’t know, Bookwala has gained popularity as an author too. He has authored a book called Wet, a collection of seven sensual stories, set in a wild world of sex, and that explains how bold he is as a writer. “It’s the art of storytelling that can keep viewers and readers engaged. What works best is when you offer them stories that are relevant and identifiable,” explains Bookwala, who loves to write and produce stories, which are brewed with sex and humour. “Sex is one term that is abused, it can be identified as porn, but when presented with craft and precision, the same act can look beautiful.”

His stories are layered with voyeurism, obsession, filled with castle-in-the-sky elements, supernatural, all blobbed with black humour and sex (most of the time consensual). He vehemently believes any story should have an impact on the audience. “My writing is very different and that with which, not many Indian writers have experimented. I love to write on humour, satire and sex with the only agenda that my audience should ask for more. If it makes my audience disturbed or uncomfortable then I have mastered my job,” states Bookwala, who romances horror and sci-fi. “I’d also love to explore contemporary chick-lit and romance. Inconsistency is what I love the most. On one hand, I love eroticism and how slowly it plays on the mind; while on the other hand, I love the fast-paced thriller.”

The road ahead: Many projects are on the anvil, while three of them are being shot. Coming up next is ALTBalaji’s Fitrat, which has Krystle D’Souza playing the lead. He is also producing a web series called Fh for Fantasy for Voot, Ghost Bombs for ALTBalaji and another one for Applause Entertainment.

Trivia: His workplace is a reflection of his obsession. Enter his office and it’s the space that greets you, a very unlike feature in today’s time. No work stations and no silos, space is seamlessly bordered with a few cabins and an A.V. room, which has a scribbling wall, a colourful couch plonked with cushions, all this and more makes his place of work different from the rest.