It’s been less than five years since Anand Neelakantan rose to fame with his debut novel Asura-The Tale of The Vanquished . The book, which gave a voice to Ravana, the Asura king, gained him millions of readers. With his second book Ajaya- the Roll of Dice, which told the tale of the Kauravas, he established his position as one of the most sought out Indian writers. Now, Anand is back with his third book, The Rice of Kali , the much awaited sequel to Ajaya. In an email interview, Neelakantan talks about his new book, future projects and much more.
All your books so far tell the story of the other side - the story of those who lost and were named villains. What actually prompted you to the idea of giving voices to the villains of the great Indian epics?
I have always found that the villains are more believable and humane than our mythological heroes. The heroes have been mostly portrayed as Gods or super heroes and over many retellings over thousands of years; they have become so unbelievable that it is easy to identify with the so-called villains.
A Ravana or Duryodhana looks refreshingly modern in their values. Their naked materialism, honest ambitions and even their flaws make them likeable. There are two sides to any story. So far we have been spoon fed one point of view only. It is fascinating to see how the same story changes when the view point changes. As they say, there is my truth, and your truth, but the real truth is somewhere in between.
The second part of Ajaya—the Roll of Dice will be released in July. Can you tell us a bit about the background behind the writing of The Rise of Kali?
Mahabharata is an eternal epic. When I was writing The Rise of Kali , I was surprised at the parallels that Mahabharata has to the modern world. Once we strip the Mahabharata of its divine coating, what we get is a dark and stark tale of a bloody family feud, where no one is really right or wrong.
Even the Gita appears to be just a war song and not some divine revelation. Before writing The Rise of Kali , I had been an admirer of the Gita, but the moment I started seeing it in its context, it has taken a totally different turn. I have come to believe that the Gita does not represent the real Indian thoughts and it has been thrust by some vested interest in Mahabharata. There are many consistencies and contradictory logic in it, which makes it confusing. The Bhakti tradition asserts that Lord Krishna has answered the doubts of Arjuna, but has he really? Does the events of Mahabharata, after the war or even during the war, prove dharma only wins? Or does it even answer what is dharma? Was Krishna really able to answer Arjuna’s questions or was Arjuna persuaded because of the frightening Viswaroopa he was shown. Or did Vyasa leave all these questions open-ended? Was the great poet subtly being satirical when he named a story where everyone loses as jaya, the victory?
Mahabharata throws more questions than answers. The Rise of Kali will only amplify such questions. There are few chapters in the book where Gita is being critically seen, not with the arrogance of a disbeliever, but with the genuine puzzlement of an ordinary man who is not able to understand it.
Just like Bhadra in your first book Asura… , Jara and his dog Dharma are your own characters in the Ajaya… series. What was the purpose behind the creation of these characters?
Bhadra was for creating a balance in the story, to give a third angle, the view from the bottom of the heap. Else, Asura… would have just been a self-justification tirade of Ravana.
Bhadra is the common man whose life never changes irrespective of whether Rama rules or Ravana. He is sceptic, selfish, amoral and oppressed, but he keeps his intellect intact and supports the establishment because it suits him. Jara is another kind of common man, who is naïve, selfless and who becomes the sheep that is led by all religions and god men. Without Bhaktas like Jara, religions will cease to exist. He also represents a bigger truth, the real dharma and the dog that follows him is named Dharma purposefully.
Have you started working on a new project? Is it true that you have begun to work as a script writer?
Next one is a fantasy thriller based on Indian mythology. That book is for my teenage daughter Ananya, who is a fan of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson book series. She keeps telling me that Indian mythology is not exciting, and with excess stress on devotion, it is dry for a young mind. Unlike the Asura … or Ajaya … series, which are more reflective in nature, the next one which is tentatively titled Devayani is a fantasy thriller with lots of adventure, but set in our mythological world and period.
I do not know whether I have the capability to pull it off, but what I am attempting is a Hunger games or Harry Potter kind of book based on our mythology and Atharva Veda. It is a challenge for me and I am enjoying the challenge of writing it.
Asura… will come soon as a multi-lingual film in Telugu-Malayalam-Tamil and discussions are in an advanced stage. I have also signed up for a horror-comedy based on a folk tale for a Hindi film. I am also writing the story for a forthcoming mythological serial with a major television channel.
Do you believe that your difference in approach to the epical characters has kindled interest in the new generation and has widened their readership of Indian classics?
Yes, I believe that my writing has made a difference in the way people see the age old stories. When I wrote the books, I thought my readers would be readers who are familiar with Ramayana and Mahabharata. Though I have a substantial number of such readers, to my pleasant surprise, I have a huge number of readers who are young and who have found my books quite exciting.
There seems to be a lot of young writers who use mythology as their theme these days. Your comments.
We have just scratched the surface. Indian mythology is so vast and there are so many stories to be told that, one lifetime is not enough to say them all. When compared to Greek mythology that has inspired so many stories, we are yet to exploit the full potential of our rich mythology.
