A thriller debut
CHENNAI: An emergency rescue operation is happening within the city limits. Mani Bharathi, an IPS officer from New Delhi, flies down to save the minister of the ruling party who’s held hostage by a terrorist group. There’s a twist just when the mission is accomplished. Did he capture the real criminal? Before you think it’s a gripping whodunit from a film, let us tell you that this is the premise of Prraveen Khumar N’s debut novel An Incredible Indian Rescue, launched this month.
Short and crisp, the 60-page novel with 10 chapters is something you would flip through in one sitting while sipping on hot cuppa. The author’s tremendous respect for armed forces and fascination for cinema reflects in the way the story flows. “The protagonist is inspired and named after my best friend Mani Bharathi. He shunned a cushy job and opted to work for Central Industrial Security Force, a rather nonlinear and challenging job. It was considered very unusual earlier. He continued to excel in it and that’s what impressed me the most,” shares Praveen, a civil engineer from IIT-M who is now country-head of immovable property valuations in an NFBC.
From St Thomas Mount to Gajendra Circle inside IIT Madras, the plot of the novel is set in different parts of Chennai as a tribute to the influence that the city had on the author. “We’ve seen and read many stories of this genre that were set and shot in north India. I wanted to give it a fresh take with Chennai. People will find areas that they can relate to,” he says. The author’s creative streak took shape during his college days. He has won several accolades for short films and has always been passionate about film-making. “I couldn’t pursue it as a career after college because of various reasons but the idea is alive.
The foreword penned by Suresh Kalpathi, chairman, Kalpathi AGS Group, had some encouraging words about the story’s credibility for being made into a film script,” says Prraveen, who has decided to give the proceeds from selling the book to the Alumni Association of IIT Madras. Contrary to the common belief that all authors are voracious readers, Prraveen picked his first book to read when he was in IIT- Madras. It was Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. After graduation, from 2011-2020, he has finished reading 600 books and has set up a small library in his home.
“The idea of writing has become far-fetched and the reading habit among youngsters has reduced drastically. It would be helpful if media and production houses can don the hat of publishers and listen to some of our scripts. This way, they will have fresher stories to tell and writers will be recognised,” he suggests. Often people believe that a book cannot be replicated on screen. But the author appreciates it because he thinks that comparing the two mediums of storytelling is unfair. “No fiction writer pens his story without imagining it visually.
As an author, I have a huge landscape for my thoughts to flow within a few seconds. That’s not the case with direction. There are restrictions, limited resources, budget and several other factors involved. This is the reason most of the authors get disappointed when the film isn’t satisfactory,” he explains. Prraveen is working on three books. An Incredible Indian Rescue is available in an e-book format on e-commerce portals. “We need the support of readers. I’m hoping the books will be made available at physical stores soon,” he says.
The e-book is priced at Rs 120 and paperback at Rs 150.