BENGALURU: Audiobooks have seen a big boom of late in India. On regional language platforms, the demand for local content is on the rise too, especially in the post-lockdown era. Bridging the gap between literature and entertainment in Kannada is the Keli Katheya audiobook series. Keli Katheya brings forth some of the finest Kannada short stories through the voices of distinguished personalities from the Kannada movie industry.
Now available in two volumes, the first part of the Keli Katheya series was launched in 2014, while the second was launched on Tuesday by film personalities B Suresha, Vasishta Simha, Kishor, and renowned Kannada writer and publisher Vasudhendra.
This audiobook was conceptualised by various professionals from the IT and banking sectors who share a common interest – to explore this emergent art form. All proceeds generated from the first part of the audiobook were used to support the education of nine girls in the border areas of Karnataka, who went on to score 100 per cent in Kannada language.
After spending much time on content curation and working closely with authors, artists and music directors, the team is now ready with the second volume. “The magic of getting the best Kannada stories and the best voices from cinema, music and theatre for a good cause is humbling. At the same time, we also have a responsibility to ensure that we keep doing this,” says Mukund Setlur from Keli Katheya’s team.(For more information, visit www.kelikatheya.com)
On offer
The first volume has stories by Poornachandra Tejaswi, Jayanth Kaikini and Vasudhendra, read by actors Rakshit Shetty, Prakash Rai, singer M D Pallavi and others. The second volume has stories by Kuvempu, Devanoor Mahadeva, Vivek Shanbhag, and Boluwaru Mohammed Kunhee, read by Girija Lokesh, Sruthi Hariharan, Vasishta Simha, Dhananjaya, Achyut Kumar and Raj Shetty.