21 year old recently became the first Asian to win ‘the author of the year’ award
Author Nikhil Chandwani while directing his documentary.
Coded Conspiracy
by
Nikhil Chandwani Rs140, pp. 192 Rectitude Publishing House
For many of us, criticism is a somewhat bitter pill to swallow. But for 21-year-old novelist and documentary filmmaker Nikhil Chandwani the fire in his belly and unshakable faith in himself were what helped him deal with criticism, and not let it put brakes on his dreams. Nikhil recently became the first Asian to win the author of the year award from the American Literary Forum society for his novel Coded Conspiracy.
“Critics had stereotyped me as a writer of romantic stories after my novel I Wrote Your Name In The Sky was published. But it was my consuming passion for writing that made me write Coded Conspiracy to counter their stereotyping. It is a story of two young techies, Neil and Pankaj, who like playing pranks on people, especially the professors. What started as fun initially takes an ugly turn and they end up spamming lakhs of mails, making them the target of RAW for hacking. Attempting to escape, they end up unravelling a great scam, involving an antivirus agency spreading a dangerous spam to earn profits,” reveals the author, who is also in talks with a Hollywood producer for the digital version of the novel. Also a winner of the United Kingdom Writers Forum Award, Nikhil is currently writing scripts for an upcoming Hollywood and a Bollywood film titled Noor.
One of his documentary films, titled Escape from Kenya, won him over 30 international awards. “It is about a rich, corrupt American businessman who moves to Kenya where nature guides him in the right direction and helps him in his soul searching quest,” says Nikhil, who plans to retire when he turns 30 and take up writing as a full-fledged profession.
The writer has a strong fascination for all things unsung and unspoken. One of his earlier books, titled Unsung Words, is a collection of 55 poems on unvoiced teen emotions, romance and heart-touching tales of separation. “Currently, I am working on the biography of cancer survivor Bablu Dubey, who is also a strong promoter of Indian hockey and fought vehemently to propose Major Dhyanchand’s name for Bharat Ratna,” informs the author.
Nikhil finds inspiration in life around him, “Nature is one of my biggest inspirations. I am a free-spirited writer who can sit for hours together on a beach, admiring nature and observing people rather than partying inside a loud and happening club.”
Nikhil makes a conscious attempt to avoid writing styles of successful authors from creeping into his own writing. He says, “I want to be pure, fresh and creative in my approach and want to create a niche for myself.”
Apart from scripting for a travel show titled Song of the Open Road to be soon telecast on Discovery Channel, he is also working as an assistant director for Hollywood film, Saffron Skies. He adds, “The movie, being produced by Joe Skorphen, is likely to have a glittering ensemble of actors like Bruce Willis, Nicolas Cage, Tom Hanks and Dustin Hoffman among others. It would be a great achievement to be a part of this project.”
( Source : dc )
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