Kajol, Shekhar Kapoor Attend Launch of Last Shiva Trilogy Book
Amish Tripathi’s much-awaited book, “The Oath of the Vayuputras,” published by Westland Ltd., was launched Feb. 26 at Crossword Bookstore, Kemps Corner. The last book of the Shiva Trilogy was launched in the presence of special guests Kajol and Shekhar Kapur alongside columnist Anil Dharker.
Fans of the series lined up outside the store to witness the launch, while others came dressed as their favorite characters from the books, fervently chanting “Har Har Mahadev.” Music and performances from the music album, “Vayuputras,” a compilation of songs based on the book launched by Times Music some weeks ago, embellished the launching ceremony.
The book has been released with an unprecedented 500,000 copies, 3,50,000 of which have been sold out even before release. This final book of the trilogy talks about how Evil has risen and only a God can stop it. Shiva is gathering his forces. He reaches the Naga capital, Panchavati, and prepares for a holy war against his true enemy, a man whose name instills dread in the fiercest of warriors. But Shiva must not fail, no matter what the cost. In his desperation, he reaches out to the ones who have never offered any help to him: the Vayuputras.
Shekhar Kapur called Amish “India’s literary pop star” while Kajol stated, “His books are really simply written.”
Speaking at the launch Amish said, “I am excited and slightly nervous for the launch. I hope the readers get the sense of completion from this third book of the Shiva Trilogy.”
Gautam Padmanabhan – Chief Executive Officer, Westland Limited (Publishers of The Shiva Trilogy) – said, “Today I feel a sense of relief that we have distributed 3.5 lakh copies across the country to make sure Amish’s third book goes on sale on 27th morning. It is the single largest launch in Indian publishing. However, this is not the end of the road, we expect the trilogy to go from strength to strength. There is a lot of excitement with the book being adapted to a movie and many more things to come.”
Kinjal Shah, COO, Crossword Bookstores, said, “‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’ is by far the biggest launch in the Indian publishing industry and we are delighted to launch it on the Crossword platform. Amish has a huge fan following and it shows with the great response we have received this evening. The Shiva Trilogy has grown as one of the most read books in India and the numbers are only increasing. Amish’s writing has captured the audience with a genre like mythology, which is incredible. We are confident that the last book of the series will do very well. I congratulate Amish and Westland Ltd. on the launch and we look forward to many more.”
The Shiva Trilogy is a compelling, fictional tale of a Tibetan tribal called Shiva, whose adventures nearly 4000 years ago, morphed into the mythical legends of the Hindu God Shiva. The first two books of the Shiva Trilogy (The Immortals of Meluha & The Secret of the Nagas) have sold more than a million copies within a short period of two-and-a-half years. The books have been released across the Indian subcontinent in various languages, including English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu and Assamese. Additionally, Jo Fletcher Books has bought the English-language rights outside of the Indian subcontinent and published the first book, The Immortals of Meluha, in the U.K. in January. The book is to be released in the U.S. in the summer 2014. The book is also due for release in Indonesia soon.
