NOTED POET-NOVELIST C P SURENDRAN'S 'HADAL' LAUNCHED IN MUMBAI

Noted poet-novelist C P Surendran's 'Hadal' Launched in Mumbai

Mumbai: C P Surendran's third work of fiction was launched today at a grand event at the city hotel,

(L-R) Ravi Subramanian,CP Surendran,
Anurag Kashyap

Palladium in the presence of leading personalities from the field of cinema, literature and art. The launch was followed by a round of reading and play acting of a passage from the book.

A newsman, C P Surendran was the editor-in-chief of DNA and Resident Editor of Times of India. His earlier works, 'An Iron Harvest' and 'Lost and Found' were bestselling novels, while his collection of poems that included Gemini II, Posthumous Poems, Canaries on the Moon and Portraits of the Space We Occupy were considered to be path breaking and had set many precedents in modern English poetry. Surendran also marked his debut in Bollywood by scripting 'Gour Hari Dastaan' which has been winning accolades at various international festivals. Directed and jointly screen written by national award winner, Ananth Mahadevan, the theatrical release of the film is expected soon.

(L-R) Suchitra Pillai, Denzil Smith, Ravi Subramanian,
CP Surendran, Anurag Kashyap

"Inspired by a real-life incident, Hadal is an incisive critique of the rot at the heart of India and the corruption, physical and spiritual, that permeates the structure of authority," says the author. The plot revolves around Marian a young, attractive and unhappily married lady. Taking a break from her job as internal security officer at the palace of the Maldivian president, she comes to Trivandrum to write a novel. Honey Kumar is a police officer on a punishment transfer from Delhi to Trivandrum for a spectacular act of graft. When Miriam refuses to comply with Honey Kumar’s demands for sexual favours in return for extending her visa, he fabricates an espionage charge against her and arrests her. Before long, Miriam, who has secrets of her own, realizes that the tropical vacation spot she has landed in is like a hallucinogenic dream, where everybody has a tale to tell. They collectively contribute to a fable about her as a spy and a honey trap, shaking her up and shaping her struggle.

The book is published by Harper Collins.