The father of popular film director SS Rajamouli and the writer of ‘RRR’, Vijayendra Prasad is working on his next novel based on the story of 17th century Ahom general Lachit Borphukan. The novel will be titled ‘Brahmaputra: The Ahom Son Rises (Book 1)’.
The screenwriter, who has written for blockbuster movies, has teamed up with naval officer-turned-espionage fiction writer Kulpreet Yadav to bring the novel which is being released by Harper Colons Publishers India on May 30.
The story is a mix of action and romance and takes off with Lachit falling in love with Princess Padmini, the daughter of Swargadeo Jayadhwaj Singha, the then Ahom ruler. The king finds out about their romance and throws out Lachit from the capital, Jorhat.
After a few days, the forces of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb attacks the Ahom capital which forces the king to sign a peace treaty, giving up part control of his kingdom to the Mughals. However, the terms of the treaty do not bode well for Lachit and his best friend, Prince Chakradhwaj.
The trouble then intensifies as a prince from a kingdom that is loyal to the Ahoms, misleads other minor rulers to rebel and attack the capital Jorhat. Lachit and Prince Chakradhwaj defend the capital in a battle that has the power to change the future of the Ahom kingdom forever.
In the climax of the story, the readers are left to wonder whether Lachit, Prince Chakradhwaj and Princess Padmini will be able to defeat the rebels, break from the Mughals and restore the lost glory of the Ahoms.
Vijayendra Prasad is a multi-award-winning writer of both the ‘Baahubali’ films that broke all box-office records, apart from writing the story of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ and ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’.
His collaborator, Kulpreet Yadav, is retired from the Indian Coast Guard and has written books across several genres, like espionage, military history and true crime. He lives in Mumbai and his latest writing is ‘The Battle of Rezang La’ (Penguin, 2021).
