The 1001 Arabian Nights was the story about a king who loved listening to stories, and the queen unfolded story after story for as many nights. They strategically ended at the climax point around dawn, when the queen would stop the story, to be continued the next night. This enabled her to evade her impending death as per the king’s order. These stories have enchanted listeners over the past centuries. But the modern world needs modern storytellers who can digress the listeners away from stuff like electronic gadgets to lead a moment in solace. Listed below are the modern age storytellers who have been able to take the traditional art of storytelling to fresh zeniths, in their own distinct ways that appeal to millions of listeners.
Neelesh Misra
This journalist-turned-storyteller was born in a small town of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from being an award-winning journalist, he ruled the hearts of the audience with his work in various fields. He shot to fame with his radio show ‘Yaadon ka Idiot Box’, which won over listeners because of his appealing narration. He is also the man behind some of much loved songs in Hindi films in the past decade. He has also worked as a writer on Bollywood films like Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, Shamshera and the upcoming Tiger 3. His way of storytelling is always appreciated by listeners as he tells the stories of common people with dreams and aspirations.
Sudhanshu Rai
This storyteller goes by the name of ‘Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai’, and has enchanted scores of listeners through radio, social media, digital podcasts and even motion pictures. He initially came to light with his stories on various social media and digital platforms. Always the one to follow his heart, he has written and narrated over 100 stories, before making his acting and directorial debut with Chaipatti. A popular character from his stories – Detective Boomrah – was also reprised on screen where Sudhanshu played the titular role. His next, sci-fi thriller Chintaa Mani, further showcased the versatility of his writing and acting skills. He is currently filming an upcoming Bollywood film, where he plays the protagonist.
Mahmood Farooqui
Mahmood Farooqui has worked relentlessly towards reviving the art form of Dastangoi since 2005. It is a Persian form of storytelling where the storyteller narrates the stories to a live audience. His recounting of tales like Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, Rajasthani Folktales, and Saadat Hasan Manto's life and works, among other stories, were much loved. He has also revived an old classic like Dastan e Amir Hamza and also redefined the art form, attracting the young and old alike. He is also an author of books like Dastan e Karan Az Mahabharata, where he retold the tale of Karna from the Mahabharata using Urdu, Hindi, Persian, and Sanskrit literature as reference. He also won The Ramnath Goenka Award in the nonfiction category, apart from the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Pursakar in 2010 for his relentless work done in the field of storytelling through Dastangoi.
Amar Vyas
This Bengaluru man is a genius when it comes to storytelling. With a focus on tales for children he has produced more than 500 podcasts in regional languages as the founder of Gaatha Story. He started out as an author of noted novels like Amol Dixit Book Series, NRI: Now Returned to India.He also edited Fairytales of India and found that he loves children’s tales. And from here he moved on to create more stories for the children. As part of Gaatha Story he created podcasts on stories of Krishna, Satyabhama, and other Indian mythological characters. As part of Baalgatha Podcast he narrated stories like Why does an Eclipse Occur?, A Sadhu and Scorpio, etc. The stories in English and vernacular languages are popular amongst the young listeners.
Vikram Sridhar
A firm believer in using storytelling to conserve the culture and make it highly relevant to the modern world. He combines storytelling and theatre to tell interesting and impactful stories that carry a strong message. He is the co-founder of Tahatto, a Bengaluru based group and Around The Story, an initiative where he connects the modern day listeners to the environment through the power of stories. Through his traditional sit down storytelling style, he creates an interesting combination of theatre, social work and conservation. Sridhar is currently coming up with a new project Freedom Walk, where he will take the participants with him on a curated walk across Bengaluru’s Freedom Park, and trace the heritage, history, and tales across this park, that was a prison for political prisoners at some point of time. As part of ‘itihaas ke panno se’ he is re introducing people to history.
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