Later this year, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s next will be ready for release. But you might not be watching it; rather, you’ll be ‘reading the movie’.
It will be titled Atharva – The Origin and will be a graphic novel.
An ambitious project, floated by Chennai-based Virzu studios, Atharva – the teaser of which released recently – promises to lure you to a vast mythical island landmass in a forgotten past, in a landscape populated by birds, beasts and monsters that existed before the era of dinosaurs. And the protagonist, a young king named Atharva, will set out on a journey to discover his identity. Helming this project is the author of the novel, Ramesh Thamilmani, who promises a unique ‘reading experience.’ “When you read a book, you have to visualise the setting and landscape that the author tries to describe. In a graphic novel, we lay it out for you,” explains Ramesh, “It is basically like reading a movie’s storyboard; with visuals and dialogues. The text will be accompanied by full-page illustrations in 3D, supporting several key moments in the storyline.”
Roping in Shah Rukh Khan for the project was like a dream come true for its makers. “He (Shah Rukh) is always game for new ideas and innovations using technology,” says Ramesh. “We approached him with our illustrations and a basic story sketch… and he readily agreed to be part of it.” After the online response to the teaser, fans of the actor are actually pressing the makers to make the story into a film. “It might shape up into a movie later; it’s too early to talk about it now,” he adds.
Other than the protagonist, audiences, especially children, can watch out for the unique animals in the novel. “As it’s a fantasy novel, we wanted to explore the concept of how animals would’ve looked before dinosaurs came into existence,” says Ramesh Acharya, the illustrator. “Creatively, that was a challenge.” Atharva will be available in print, smart TV, Kindle and e-book formats later this year.
