Chennai
The book that contains 15 stories is fictional tales around real incidents from the past and present. “There are stories from the future too. However, I had to plunge into deep research for incidents from the past and present as they have characters from real life,” Kabilan tells DT Next. Fictions from the past revolve around King Poolithevan, who ruled Nerkattumseval in the 18th century. “For this, I had to plunge into Poolithevan’s real-life incidents and have incorporated them into my story. I have also spoken about his commander Sembuli in the story. So, it was intense research,” he adds.
Ambaraathooni is also the first book to have stories in Tamil from the past, present, and future. According to Kabilan, it is the Vellore Sepoy Mutiny, a story that people needed to know. “We all rewind to 1857 when we talk about Sepoy Mutiny. But there was a mutiny in 1806 that took place and it was the beginning of the revolt. Tipu Sultan’s daughter Noorunnissa Begum was held captive and she makes a brief appearance in one of my stories.
Another chapter is about a photographer named Willoughby Wallace Hooper, who clicked pictures of people in Madras during the Great Famine in 1876. One of the stories from the present is about deep-sea mining and how the process takes place in the middle of an ocean.
Also, the story of the future is about emotions and relationships. I will leave that for the readers,” he smiles. Ambaraathooni is priced at Rs 150 each. Prod him if he has plans to make one of the episodes into a feature film or a series, he replies, “I do, and I hope once things are normal I will have the time to work on it.”
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