Anand Neelakantan

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Anand Neelakantan
Anand Neelakantan
Anand Neelakantan
BornThrippunithura, Kerala, India
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • screenwriter
  • public speaker
  • columnist
Alma materGovernment Engineering College, Thrissur
GenreMythological fiction
Notable worksAsura: Tale of the Vanquished
Ajaya: Roll of the Dice
Ajaya: Rise of Kali
The Rise of Sivagami
Years active2012 – present
SpouseAparna Anand
Children2
Website
anandneelakantan.com

Anand Neelakantan is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is known for writing mythological fictions and has authored eight books in English and one in Malayalam. He follows the style of telling stories based on the perspective of the antagonists or supporting characters of a larger work. His debut work Asura: Tale of the Vanquished (2012) was based on the Indian epic Ramayana, told from the perspective of Ravana—the first book in his Ramayana series. It was followed by series of books based on characters from Mahabharata and Baahubali. His books have been translated to different languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali , Gujarati, Assamese and Indonesian Bahasa.

Anand's Asura is one of the 100 books to be read in a life time as per Amazon.[1] The book has sold more than half a million copies across the years. Three of his books have been shortlisted for Crossword Book Award during the respective years. He was listed as one among the "100 top celebrities in India" in 2015 and 2017 by Forbes India. Anand also writes a column for The New Indian Express on current affairs and his fortnightly column is called "Acute Angle".[2]

Early life[edit]

Anand Neelakantan is an alumnus of Government Engineering College, Trichur in Kerala. He has been working with Indian Oil Corporation since 1999. He draws cartoons for Malayalam magazines.[3] He is married to Aparna Anand and they have two children: Ananya Anand and Abhinav Anand.

Career[edit]

In Mumbai, 2018

His debut novel Asura: Tale of the Vanquished[4] was published by Leadstart Publishing[5] on 14 May 2012. The book became a surprise bestseller, breaking into the top seller charts within a week of its launch.[6] His second book was based on Mahabharata told from the perspective of Kaurava and was part of a two book series. Ajaya: Roll of the Dice was released in December 2014 and the sequel Ajaya: Rise of Kali was released in July 2015.[7]

Anand Neelakantan signed with the producers of Baahubali film series for a three-book series which would act as a prequel to the films. The first book of the trilogy, The Rise of Sivagami, from the Bahubali: Before the Beginning trilogy released on 7 March 2017.[8] S. S. Rajamouli, the director of Baahubali series, revealed the cover of the book at the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2017. The book became a blockbuster and was shortlisted for Crossword Popular Award 2018. Netflix has announced a webseries on the book. The second book in the series, Chaturanga was released on 6 August 2020. The third book, Queen of Mahishmathi, was released on 28 December 2020.[9]

His fifth book Vanara: The legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara also follow the same pattern of voicing the defeated side. Anand's debut Children's book, The Very Extremely Most Naughty Asura tales for Kids[10][11] was published on 28 September 2020 by Puffin books. Anand Neelakantan's fifth book Vanara,[12] the legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara is published by Penguin Random House and is a best seller. DAR films and KR movies have announced that they have won the film adoption rights and will be producing a multilingual film on Vanara.[13][14][15][16] Anand's Malayalam work Pennramayanam has been published by Mathrubhumi Books.[17]

List of works[edit]

Novels[edit]

Mahabharata based
Ramayana based
Bahubali series
Children's books

The Very Extremely Most Naughty Asura tales for Kids (Puffin Books) (2020)[10]

Television[edit]

Accolades[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Amazon.in: 100 books by Indian authors - 100 Books To Read in a Lifetime: Books". amazon.in. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "Author". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "More to myth than meets the eye". The Telegraph. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "How Anand Neelakantan is giving a new spin to mythological tales - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Actor Nagarjuna and Amala unveils Ajaya 2, Rise of Kali a book by Anand Neelakantan". Ragalahari. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "'Asura', a bestseller". The Hindu. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "From Duryodhana's perspective". The Hindu. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "The Rise of Sivagami (Bahubali Book #1)" by Anand Neelakantan, Westland Books
  9. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/anand-neelakantan-announces-final-book-in-the-bahubali-trilogy/articleshow/79936786.cms
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Anand Neelakantan's upcoming book is a tale of Asuras for children - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Anand Neelakantan pens debut kids' book". The Indian Express. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Anand Neelakantan takes a 'proto-history' approach in his new book, Vanara". telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Anand Neelakantan's book to be adapted to film". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  14. ↑ Scroll Staff. "Film based on Anand Neelakantan's Ramayana spinoff 'Vanara' in the works". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Anand Neelakantan takes a 'proto-history' approach in his new book, Vanara". telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Anand Neelakantan's book to be adapted to film - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  17. ↑ ശിവാനന്ദ്, അഖില്‍. "സീത, മീനാക്ഷി, ശാന്ത... രാമായണത്തിലെ പെണ്‍കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളെ പുനര്‍വായിക്കുമ്പോള്‍". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Leadstart Publishing Book Publisher, Distributor and Literary Agent". leadstartcorp.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  19. ↑ Admin, India Education Diary Bureau (4 June 2017). "Kalinga International Literary Award to Anand Neelakantan, Kalinga Literary Award to Haraprasad Das, KLF2017 to start from June 10". IndiaEducationDiary.in. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "The most remarkable Indian writers of 2012". DNA India. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "Anand's 'Asura' in the race for Crossword prize". The Hindu. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Rise of Sivagami | Anand Neelakantan | Book Review". bookgeeks.in. Retrieved 24 April 2017.

External links[edit]

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