Writer-lyricist Kabilan Vairamuthu, son of noted lyricist, poet, and writer Vairamuthu, is on cloud nine! His third novel Meinigari (Virtual Reality) — one of the first Indian novels about reality television — has received recognition from the National University of Singapore (NUS). It has been included in the contemporary Tamil literature course of the university’s South Asian Studies Programme.
An excited Kabilan tells DC how the idea of penning a book about reality television occured to him —“I had worked as an executive producer and was part of the core teams of a couple of private channels. I met many people during that time, and drew on those real-life experiences to write this novel.” Dr. Vasugi Kailasam, lecturer for the South Asian Studies Programme, is the person who chose the book. She states, “I have included Kabilan Vairamuthu’s Meinigari in my contemporary Tamil literature course as an example of how popular Tamil literature is attentive to the reading patterns of today’s attention-deficient youth. Young students, predominantly from diaspora, have enjoyed its cinematic style of storytelling.”
Prod Kabilan about the purpose behind including the novel in the curriculum, and he replies, “NUS sees the novel highlighting the changing trends in literature. They also found the structure of the 150-page novel about five young people to be interesting. It’s meant for youngsters, so students can relate to it as well. For me, I want Meinigari to serve as a media guide or handbook for those who enter TV.”
The novel reflects the concept of infotainment. What was his famous father’s reaction? “Oh, he was delighted,” says Kabilan and recalls an incident his dad told him. “Appa once told me that his first poetry collection was Vaigarai Megangal, which he wrote when he was studying at Pachaiyappa’s College. Inadvertently, another college’s literature department added it to their course without knowing that and later removed it!”
On the film front, Kabilan is busy screenwriting and penning lyrics for a slew of flicks including K.V. Anand’s next project with Vijay Sethupathi, Ajith-Siva’s next flick Thala57, Singam III, Indirajith, and Gokul’s next movie Mathiyaal Vel.
