Soumitra Ranade's new children's book 'Bhrigu' and 'The Palace of Mirror' to release on Oct 20

Director Soumitra Ranade, best known for his films “Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai?” and “Jajantaram Mamantaram”, has announced his new childrens book “Bhrigu and The Palace Of Mirror”.

Written and illustrated by Ranade, the book is being published by Hachette India and will hit the shelves on October 20.

“Although I have written many short stories for children and some of them have also been published, I always wanted to write something longer, something more substantial. A novel by its very form gives the writer that space to explore stories in depth to delve into complexities, to develop relationships and so on,” the filmmaker-writer said in a statement.

“Bhrigu and The Palace Of Mirror” is about 10-year-old Bhrigu who has a nose for mystery and a taste for adventure. “So instead of spending his summer break playing all day, he finds himself drawn to his fathers latest film set, a replica of an ancient palace with a creepy legend. But when a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger sets off a series of bizarre events and an old story tears into real life, Bhrigu realises that something truly sinister is afoot.

“Things come to a head when his father goes missing. Now Bhrigu must use all his deductive skills to solve an impossible puzzle before it wrecks his entire world,” the official logline read.

Ranade said the process of writing “Bhrigu and The Palace Of Mirror” was immensely joyful for him and it helped him “maintain my own sanity”.

“There is a wide variety of childrens literature available in India – not just in English but also in many regional languages. But most of it is for young children. There is hardly anything for older children as a result of which they have to switch to the Harry Potters and other western writing. “This in itself is fine, since children should be reading all that, but I think they should also be reading our stories. Bhrigu and the Palace of Mirrors is our way to address this gap. I am absolutely fascinated by the way children think and I am really looking forward to knowing what they think of my book,” he added.

Ranade is currently working on the pre-production of animated feature Kabuliwala, which is based on Rabindranath Tagores short story. He also has an animated web series.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)