In an exclusive interview with The Pioneer, crime author Rajesh Kumar discusses his work, some interesting tales, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Is there anything more enthralling than piecing together a good mystery or thriller? Investigating the minds behind the knotty, twisting puzzles that keep us frantically flipping pages and hooked on the intrigue and excitement that their words conjure up. Well, today we are extremely pleased to bring to you Rajesh Kumar, a crime author whose pseudonym is KR Rajagopal, who recently published his book ‘From the Undisputed King of Tamil Pulp’.
Beginning with, he said, “When I started my career in the literature field, most of the popular ones were concentrating on the social and historical genres. To stand out from them, I began writing crime and mystery novels. The general perception of readers is that crime novels are about murders, rapes, and theft.
I wanted to write something besides the said topics, and I wrote that a crime can be psychological. Moreover, I wanted to add the flavour of science and technology to my stories, so I wrote science fiction. I had to read a lot to bring the science and tech flavours to life, and that too in an easily readable and understandable way for common readers.”
Rajesh Kumar has written over 1,500 crime and science fiction novels in Tamil. He has also written the scripts for many movies and web series. He continued, “An interesting event gave me the theme for Adhira’s apartment. Five years ago, in Mumbai, a few people living in a gated community vacated their apartments in groups. When I asked for the reason, I got to know that almost everyone felt that society was unlucky for their sun sign.
This particular incident gave me the one-liner. All I have to do is cut that astrological reason and weave the plot into the perspective that there were a series of murders for a reason beyond imagination. The story gets into the details of the investigation by the normal, non-superhero cops. The crime and the political reasoning gave an advantage to that story.”
Kumar’s first published story was in 1968 in the college magazine of Government Arts College, Coimbatore, where he earned a degree in botany. He has attributed this to a prank by another student, who used his name when volunteering to submit a story for the magazine, and when his professor refused to allow Rajesh to back out, the next day he reluctantly submitted “Vaazhndhu Kaatuvom”, a love story.
Some more interesting tales were on their way by the fiction writer. He went on to share: “When it comes to serial killer stories, the core motive mostly would be due to love. I have written a few stories based on love. The killings would be done by a murderer who does them due to a failed relationship or overwhelming love for a person, which is also a mental disorder. Recently, I read a news article about a 14-year-old boy who killed his mom because she compelled him to go to school.
The young chap continues his killing spree, finding such moms around him. This is another example of serial killing. Though the concept of serial killing is common, it could be associated with various mental and psychological disorders. I would pick some unique ones among these and convert them into plots and detail them into stories. While doing so, I would never fail to state that they can be cured. Most readers would like these kinds of psychological thrillers. Before I start, I would consult the psychiatrists to gather the required information for the story.”
His first novel, Vaadagaiku Oru Uyir, was published in 1980. He subsequently told of how the editor of Kumudam had seen a porter on a platform at Egmore railway station engrossed in one of his stories. The porter had also forgone customers just to finish the story. It was then that the editor decided to make Rajesh write a novel.
Furthermore, he said, “Modern-day crimes are getting sophisticated nowadays. The story that I am writing now is about artificial intelligence. AI has become a popular buzzword in recent times. Any scientific advancement or innovation will have both pros and cons. While these serve a good purpose, there will be negative sides to them.
The latest novel is about this topic, titled ‘Enakku Naane Nallavan’. This novel will have 26 chapters, and I am in the process of planning. I had to collect a lot of information on AI and fabricate it into the story plot. Finally, I have to give poetic justice to the story and a fair ending. At present, it takes one full day to complete an episode, which sometimes overruns by half an episode. I take time to make sure that I provide quality content like I always do.”
In 2019, he announced that he was negotiating with Sathya Jyothi Films regarding adaptations of his work on Amazon Prime too.Hence, he says he doesn’t take generic or routine one-liners for his stories. The writer shared, “On a day, I see and meet a lot of people, hear a lot of things happening around me, and read a bunch of news from the newspapers. When I meet my friends, they talk about a lot of incidents too.
I keenly observed them unknowingly without much effort as they became part and parcel of me. Grasping and collecting finer details about anything I observe. My alert mind always helps me record then and there. Among those, I would carefully pick a unique one that I haven’t written about or heard of before. Doing this motivates me to write more.
Moreover, I wanted to entertain and surprise the readers with new and unique plots, so that they would wonder how I managed to pick the plot. To summarise, I take plots from the incidents that I come across, be they in the news or whatever I hear from others. If the plot is unique, gripping, and enjoyable, I would start writing on it.”
As a writer, obviously, he loves to read books in different genres. Moreover, he is a science graduate and also did his B. Ed., followed by teacher training. While he did his teacher training, he was taught psychology and sociology. Those subjects gave a lot of insights and dimensions to his stories! Though most of his novels are crime thrillers, he has written spiritual content too and read a lot of books written by Siddhars and astrologers.
If he needs any information or has any doubts on a subject, he contacts experts on the subject directly. It could be anyone, like an astrologer, doctor, structural architect, or IT professional. If he needs fresh content, he would reach out to the concerned people or places for information without any delay.
For instance, if he visits an ultra-posh house, he would get in to research the way it is built and the accessories it adorns, like the latest couch models and their brands, and so on. As he always likes to provide fresh and new content, he had to update himself, for which he had to read a lot to pick the right one. But the challenge is—from the right ones, he needs to pick the suitable one for his story and also for his readers, which he is doing with ease.
