@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:02

'You need dynamic characters who've complex personalities but also are relatable..'- In Conversation with Author Atul Koul Randev.

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From the house of Srishti Publishers. The Hundred Million Bet by Atul Koul Randev is a fast paced thriller about money laundering, mafia and crime. Atul is a Norway based author who is also an avid reader, travel enthusiast and an ardent cricket fan. And he's joining me today in this conversation as we discuss the themes in his book, his writing journey, his love for thrillers and his creative process. Hello Atul. It's a delight to have you on Swell

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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 2:15
You need dynamic characters who have complex personalities but also are relatable. And then you need to sort of combine them with a lot of twists, a clear threat, the memorable locations, and a lot of action. So that's sort of what I had in mind once I started building this up to just sort of make sure that I captured all of those five or six elements in this book. Deep diving a little bit. You asked about the philosophical element. I mean, it's really quite simple
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:31
Thank you so much for sharing that atul. Your book is expertly conceived and executed, and plotting out such a complex storyline and characters would have been definitely challenging. And if you were to throw into the mix the philosophical angle as well, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been an easy road. So could you share bit more about your whole creative and writing process for the book?
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 2:21
So, yeah, I knew where I would start, where I would end, what my characters were. I knew what sort of philosophical messages I needed to plant. And then it was just about letting the characters do their thing. The story in the middle would go on to evolve in many different subplots of their own. But at that point of time, it was just about letting these characters develop and find their way to the end that I had in mind. That was pretty much it
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:26
Case in point being the whole hype around Halloween and thriller and suspense movies having fantastic runs at the box office. So in your opinion, why do people seem to get such a kick out of experiencing danger vicariously?
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 1:05
So, yeah, letting it develop organically was what worked for me. Interesting point regarding Thrillers, it's difficult to say, but I have a hypothesis here that people are just looking for something that is out of the ordinary, perhaps that challenges us, something that triggers that fight or flight instinct for a bit, that triggers that adrenaline rush for a bit. You know know, to an extent, our lives are driven by routine
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 4:00
So we've got lots of great lessons in Indian scriptures, bhagwatita going westwards, you've got Seneca's ethics, you've got Spinoza's ethics. All of these. We have such a luxury of picking and choosing what we want either way. The third layer that is important to understand is digression. It calls attention to the fact that everything that we do or in life could be construed as a digression. We do thousands of things to drive our day to day
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 0:29
Thanks. And getting back to your question around thrillers and our attraction to them, I think that would fit very much in the third layer. Here we're digressing with a fast paced story that could energize a lot of us. Right? And if you're reading my fast paced crime fella, you could potentially also walk away with a few constructive thoughts, which is the main intention of this book
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:38
Ah. Thank you so much for that deep dive into the hero's concept philosophy that you have woven into your narrative. Very, very profound. And I really appreciate you giving us a deeper understanding of what is it that you wish to convey to your readers through this story? I think I'll leave you with a couple of questions. The first question is about characterization. John Le Carre says that his characters are drawn from bits of different people
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 2:40
Ah. The answer to your first question right around the characters pretty much is, you know, lot of trial and error. What I tried to do over here was try to build the story around, you know, normal people, people like you and I fit into these extenuating circumstances, let's put it that way. And just sort of trying out how the different reactions might work and seeing what looked and felt real and what looked and felt manufactured and just working through it
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@atulrandev
atul randev
@atulrandev · 1:10
It. And coming over to the elevator pitch. I love it. Let's try it out here. Right. I fully empathize and sympathize with you. It's never easy to sort of do a quick 1 minute feel, but I'm going to try, and let's see if I do any better. Right. So the 100 million bet is a crime thriller, romance, and a philosophical book rolled into one. We have Caesar, who has just won €100 million in a poker game
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:57

The Hundred Million Bet ǀ An explosive thriller about Money Laundering, Mafia and Crime https://amzn.eu/d/hmi0bj5

I think you nailed it. That was perfect. Thank you so much. I'll perhaps go back and practice a bit more on my elevator pitches for the stuff that I've written, which someday I hope to pitch to publishers. So, yeah. Thank you so much for this great conversation. It's been fun and it's been fascinating to know what went behind the writing of the 100 million bet
article image placeholderThe Hundred Million Bet ǀ An explosive thriller about Money Laundering, Mafia and Crime
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