Neon Nagaram - A musical novel

What is the future of books? While the digitterati are busy envisioning infinite possibilities amidst critics who frown at diminishing attention levels of today's multi-tasking youth, I recently discovered one interesting possibility which seems perfectly suited for the Indian sensibility and adds another dimension to the reading experience. In a  nation which is mad about its film songs, imagine a fiction novel that lets us create the magic of movies in our mind through songs which project the emotions the words are waiting to paint in broad strokes. You are in full liberty to define your experience with the book.  Do you want to enjoy the songs marked for the chapter and then read the book to weave the story sketched entirely on the emotions stirred? Or do you want to read the book entirely and then let the music convey the feelings the words enticed you with? 

I recently got acquainted with the superbly talented Paadhai team who have put their heart and soul in actualizing this possibility. Neon Nagaram, the group's second musical novel was launched in Sathyam Cinemas  in Chennai on July 10th by Director Cheran and Actor Prasanna.
Their latest effort comes after the stupendous effort of Ranam Sugam, the team's first musical novel, which became a huge viral hit in You tube.  

The novel Neon Nagaram with 17 music tracks covering diverse genres of music has been authored by Shammeer and composed by Siva. The team is also working currently on the English version of the novel and has ambitious plans to bring 1330 Tirukkurals in celluloid and make each into a 100-second movie, what they call as ‘Haiku Cinema. You can check out the theme song of the novel here.    

Few years back, I made few amateur attempts in writing an anthology of short stories titled, Life, Pyar & Celluloid.  I wrote two stories, Pyar Actually and Shashank Redemption.   As I hear the beautiful songs of Ranam Sugam and Neon Nagaram, I am surprised to watch the desire hovering my mind which wants to recreate these stories as musical novels with this team. You can buy the novel here.