Karan Bajaj
 |
The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (August 2011) |
Karan Bajaj is the Indian author of two contemporary cult Indian bestsellers, Keep Off the Grass(2008) and Johnny Gone Down (2010). Together his novels have sold more than 200,000 copies in India (until Sep'2010) making him one of the largest selling novelists in Indian publishing history.
While both novels were almost instant bestsellers, Keep off the Grass opened to tepid critical response. Johnny Gone Down was both a commercial and critical success. Along with Chetan Bhagat and Advaita Kala, Karan Bajaj is considered among the trio of modern Indian writers that have rewritten Indian publishing rules and brought a new scale to the Indian publishing landscape with previously unheard of book sales. Outlook India called him "the thinking man's Chetan Bhagat", but in an interview he has said that all comparisons are "unnecessary and superficial". He was selected in India Today's 'Top 35 Under 35' Indian achievers(2010); nominated for the Teacher's Achievement Award(2010); nominated for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award(2008), Crossword Book pick of the year(2008) and India plaza Golden Quill Award(2008); selected a 'Top 40 Under 40 Global marketers' by Advertising Age US(2007) and Aditya Birla Group's Top ten young business leaders of India(2002).
Neither of his novels has received an international release yet.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Born in 1979 into an Indian Army family, Karan studied in various schools in Delhi, Shimla, Ranchi, Jabalpur, Lucknow and Assam. In various interviews, he has said that his interests in backpacking, and hiking are his writing inspirations.
He has also suggested that his time spent in engineering college at BIT Mesra, Ranchi was most formative for his writing experiences (not verified)
Karan Bajaj also works in Brand Management for Kraft Foods in New York. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore in 2002 after completing his engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi in 2000. He was selected as one of the top ten young business leaders of India by the Aditya Birla Foundation. Karan has earlier worked as a Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble and a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in India, the Philippines, Singapore and the U.S., and was nominated a 'Top 40 under 40 marketer in the U.S.' by Advertising Age in 2007.
[edit] Keep off the Grass
Bajaj's debut novel was published by HarperCollins India in June 2008, and has been on the best-seller lists in India since its release. The book had sold more than 70,000 copies by June 2010 and is widely regarded as a cult hit. The book was polarizing among critics with a mix of positive reviews (e.g., Outlook India termed it "pacy, unpretentious, and great fun to read") and negative reviews (e.g. India Today termed it "predictable with several cliches; only the author's effortless flair stands out and that too only in parts").
The novel was a Semi-Finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, long-listed for the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Award, and a Crossword Book Selection of the year.
[edit] Plotline
The story is about a psychedelic road trip of a 25-year-old Yale graduate through the length and breadth of India. The journey is made by a brilliant youngster named Samrat, born to immigrant parents in the U.S. who decides to go out in search of his roots. Along the way Samrat, the protagonist, ends up in prison for possession of marijuana, develops a drug addiction, meditates in the foothills of the Himalayas, has a one-night stand with a hippie in Dharamsala and meets flesh-eating Aghoree saints on the banks of Varanasi.[1]
[edit] Future film
Kunal Kohli Productions, UTV Productions, and Mosaic Media Group bid for the film rights of the book. They were eventually sold to Mosaic Media Group, the producing partners of Get Shorty, Talladega Nights, Batman and The Dark Knight. Ben Rekhi, the director of Waterborne has been signed up as director. The director has stated that the film will be "like an Indian version of The Motorcycle Diaries".[1]
[edit] Johnny Gone Down
The thriller was published by HarperCollins-India at an affordable price of Rs.99 in May'2010. "It is the first time HarperCollins-India is aiming to achieve nearly 100,000 copies in a year for an Indian author at such an attractive price," Lipika Bhushan, head of marketing at HarperCollins-India, said. The novel is about the bizarre, almost surreal series of events that transform an Ivy League MIT graduate into first a genocide survivor, then a Buddhist monk, a drug lord, a homeless accountant, a software mogul and a deadly game fighter over a period of twenty years.
The book has been both a critical and commercial success selling 45,000 copies in 3 days of its release, which sources say could be a record in Indian publishing. Financial Express called the novel “The Pulp fiction novel of the summer!"; IANS: *“*Set to make publishing history”; Deccan Chronicle's review: “Johnny rises and shines! Wild, bizarre and satisfying”, *Deccan Chronicle*; Hindustan Times: "A taut gripping saga" and Pioneer: "Sheer entertainment….Extraordinary”.
The book is rumored to have received tremendous film interest, but Karan has refused to comment on film offers in interviews.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Indian's Debut Novel set to become Hollywood Film Times of India, July 24, 2009
