Chennai: When Aswin Shankharan’s family offered him unconditional support to carve a name for himself in the literary world, little did he imagined that it will drive him to win ‘100 Inspiring Authors of India 2018’ award recognised by The Indian Awaz for his debut book Between Reality and Expectations. Now, the final year engineering student is back with his second book Filmy Kathaas that was launched here Monday.
The event saw the participation of playback singer P Unnikrishnan, Madras Talkies executive director Siva Ananth and Madras Music Association director Augustine Paul.
From a young age, Aswin grew up learning music and was passionate about film making. ‘My parents never objected whatever I did,’ he said while speaking to News Today.
“When I asked my dad for money to make a short film, he gave me without hesitation,” the engineering student said.
Aswin’s love for movies and writing screenplays eventually nurtured him to try his way into the world of publishing fiction. ‘It gave me ideas and helped me create stories of my own,” he said.
Speaking about the book, Aswin said, “It is a collection of 12 short stories. It revolves around characters who face various moments in their lives. Most of my stories are set in Chennai.”
He further noted that an important plot element in his stories was Carnatic music. “My mother is a Carnatic musician and my sisters are also into singing. It influenced me in a big way when I was young. Also women characters play a big role. As I grew with my mother and sisters, I was motivated to pen about strong female characters. My sisters were the first to read my story drafts and offered suggestions.”
Throughout the conversation, Aswin credited his parents behind his drive into writing. “I still can’t call myself a successful writer or a budding filmmaker as I have a lot more to learn. I hope to write more,” said Aswin.