‘TECHNOLOGY AND TYPING KILL MY ORIGINALITY'

THIS story began in 1969, when college-going Rajagopal decided to write a story for a competition as a prank and got it published.

- JAYABHUVANESHWARI B

A still from Rega

This story has been going on for 56 years, with Rajagopal becoming crime novelist Rajesh Kumar, with about 1,500 novels to his credit today. For this octogenarian, retirement is not a word in his dictionary, as in the fifth decade, one of his stories has been adapted into a series on ZEE5, Regai, scheduled to premiere on November 28.

To give us an idea of how this collaboration came about, the seasoned writer starts by describing his work. "Although I have written nearly 1,500 novels, every single one of my crime stories is unique. No two stories resemble each other. My narratives usually run on two or three parallel tracks, often set in different locations. These tracks appear unrelated for most of the story, but the knots are tied a few chapters before the climax. Many readers tell me that they feel as though they are reading not one but three different stories. Even fellow writers have asked how I manage multiple storylines without causing confusion, because many find it difficult to go beyond two. It requires a lot of hard work and preparation," he says. On Regai, he adds, "I put in the same effort for this story, which has now become Regai on ZEE5."

No two people in the world share the same fingerprint, not even twins. But in this story, five people have the same fingerprint. The story explores the reason behind this mystery. The police assume it is a crime, but it is not. This premise had a lot of potential, and ZEE5 has developed it under the title Regai.