Podcasts, though not very popular in India the medium is steadily charting the road to high-streaming. From books to dramatic narration, the medium has it all and is being picked up by writers and artistes to reach out to the audience who are opting for this audio stimulation over the visual treat. We pick up five must-hear for you on Headfone, an audio story telling platform.
Sniper’s Eye
Author Mainak Dhar’s audio drama version of his book Sniper's Eye is one of India’s bestselling thrillers that is also soon to be a web series by Reliance Entertainment.
The plot revolves around an ex-army officer, Major Aditya Ghosh who has settled in a peaceful domestic life in Mumbai. Aditya has a stable job and a new love interest. But his life is turned upside down when a romantic movie date at the mall turns into a gruesome terrorist attack. From there, the book plunges the reader into non-stop action that sees Aditya become a hero and then a villain in the eyes of those around him all the while being chased by both bad guys and his own bloody past. From the machinations of the intelligence bureau to the lives of ex-soldiers who had to make tough decisions in the line of duty, to the media’s role in military conflict, “Sniper’s eye” is a masterpiece of realistic action.
You are the best wife
Ajay Pandey has launched the Hindi audio drama adaptation of "You are the best wife", a true love story based on the author's own life. The book is already one of India’s leading best-sellers in its category and has sold more than 2 lakh copies since its launch.
The story is based on author Ajay Pandey’s real life and his beloved late wife Bhavna. The story starts at IERTS, the engineering college where Ajay first met Bhavna. The story goes through how Ajay gets to know Bhavna, and how their relationship beautifully blossoms from strangers to friends to people in love. In doing so, the story also explores how they survive engineering lives in a humorous manner. The story then moves onto how they encounter and fight through societal opposition to Inter-caste love marriage. And finally, the book explores the challenges of married life, before revealing a tragedy in the waiting.
After Death
This is an original thriller by the podcast and it concerns Mahi who watches her boyfriend die in front of her. She is still grieving his death, when she gets a call from a mysterious man. She panics when she realizes that he knows everything about her, including intimate details about her relationship with her boyfriend. Who is he? Why is he playing these deadly games with her? Why does he want to hurt her physically? Will Mahi escape this dangerous night?
Danny
An Indian adaptation of Dracula, it’s about Danny D'Costa who owns the large ancient Ratnagarh Palace in the middle of "Kali Ghati'', which all the locals are scared of. Ranvijay, a lawyer, is asked by his law firm to meet Danny D'Costa at his palace to help him with a property deal. The visit raises many questions in Ranvijay’s mind. Why do people avoid Kali Ghati? Why does Danny D'Costa never talk to Ranvijay in daytime? And why are there no mirrors in his Palace?
Bangla Buddhi
It is a revenge thriller in Hindi and is an Indian adaptation of The count of Monte Cristo. Here Shiva is a young, kind natured and hard-working sailor, who is in love with a beautiful girl in his town. His entire life ahead of him. Until, one day, his rival for the affections of the girl he likes gets him imprisoned on false charges for a long time. 20 years later, Shiva emerges from prison a completely different man. His youth, love and ambition all stolen from him, he sets on a course to exact revenge on each person who wronged him. This is the classic story of an innocent man wrongly, but deliberately imprisoned and his brilliant strategy for revenge against those who betrayed him.