Satyarth Nayak

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Born (1981-10-29) 29 October 1981 (age 42)
Cuttack, Odisha, India[1]
OccupationAuthor and Screenwriter
NationalityIndian
Alma materSt. Stephen's College, Delhi
Notable works
Notable awards
  • SAARC Heal Award
  • Youth Inspiration Award
  • Shrie Award

Satyarth Nayak (born 29 October 1981) is an Indian author and screenwriter, known for his bestselling novel The Emperor's Riddles, authoring the biography of Sridevi[2] and for scripting Sony's historical television epic Porus. The Emperor's Riddles turned out to be a bestselling thriller[3][4] with the media calling it "a hit with young readers".[5] Porus created by Swastik Productions was one of the most expensive and acclaimed shows on Indian television.[6] Satyarth's biography of screen legend Sridevi titled Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess published in 2019 by Penguin Random House also went on to win high praise.[7][8] Satyarth has been named one of the Top 50 Indian authors to follow on social media.[9]

Early life

Satyarth was born in

SAARC Heal Award in 2008. During this phase, his short stories won the British Council prize and also appeared in the Chicken Soup for the Soul
series. In 2011, he quit journalism to become a full-time author and screenwriter.

As author

The Emperor's Riddles

Satyarth with Shobha De at Bangalore Lit Fest 2014

The idea for The Emperor's Riddles was born out of a random Internet search by Nayak after reading the

New Indian Express declared the thriller "a hit with young readers" and said it "opened a completely different avenue for budding writers to experiment with".[5] While English Vinglish director Gauri Shinde called the book "an acclaimed thriller" via Twitter, the SpectralHues book review said the thriller's "shock twist towards the end makes you feel so ignorant" and that "a Christopher Nolan of the West or our very own Anurag Kashyap can pretty well give it a thought to bring The Emperor’s Riddles to life on screen".[15] Since its release, The Emperor's Riddles has been likened to the mystery novels of Dan Brown.[4][13] In an interview with The Times of India, Nayak stated that "the fact that the book's earning comparisons with Dan Brown is overwhelming" and "If Brown has codes, my book has riddles."[4]

Venom

Satyarth followed The Emperor's Riddles with Venom which also won positive reviews with

Free Press Journal saying that the book "slowly (but positively) spreads its poisonous tentacles of a gripping thriller that keeps readers hooked while checking on Google for the mythology references. It’s thrilling!"[17]

Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess

Delhi Launch
Satyarth Nayak with Karan Johar

In 2019, Satyarth announced his first non-fiction book on India's First Female Superstar Sridevi.[18] The book titled Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess published by Penguin Random House and backed by Boney Kapoor. Upon release, the biography earned high acclaim with The Times of India calling it "a treat for any Bollywood fan"[2] and The Hindu calling it "an eminently readable account".[19] While India Today described it as "rooted in honest love for its subject",[20] The Week described it as "a convincing retelling of the actor's life"[21] and Mid-Day described it as "diligently researched, deeply felt".[22] Vogue India called it "a rare insight into Sridevi"[23] and Firstpost praised it as "that one work of literature one might seek out to decode Sridevi".[8]

100 Tales from the Puranas

In July 2020, Satyarth announced his first book on Indian mythology titled 100 Tales from the Puranas to be published by

HarperCollins India who issued the statement that "We at Harper are excited to be publishing Satyarth’s upcoming book based on the Puranas. The magnum opus will be a treat for fans of Indian mythology."[27]

As Screenwriter

Porus

In 2017, Satyarth joined

Sinhala under the name Digvijaya.[30] The rights to the drama have also been sold to Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.[31] It is also dubbed in Tamil as Maaveeran which currently airs on Sun Life channel, Sun TV network from October 2018 onwards. The Malayalam version is titled Porus which currently airs on Surya TV
from January 2019.

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ Incredible Orissa (16 August 2017). "Odisha's Satyarth Nayak writer of Sony's Porus".
  2. ^ a b Times of India (4 January 2020). "Micro review: 'Sridevi: The Eternal Screen Goddess' by Satyarth Nayak". The Times of India.
  3. ^ a b c The Hindu (4 July 2014). "Well Received". The Hindu.
  4. ^ a b c d e Times of India (31 March 2015). "Satyarth Decodes Mysteries of Indian History". The Times of India.
  5. ^ a b New Indian Express. "When His Love For Writing Took Shape". Archived from the original on 29 October 2015.
  6. ^ IndiaToday. "5 reasons we are looking forward to watch the most expensive show of Indian TV, Porus".
  7. ^ NewIndianExpress (17 August 2019). "Sridevi's biographer Satyarth Nayak on the rise of the superstar".
  8. ^ a b Firstpost (7 February 2020). "Adulatory but insightful, Satyarth Nayak's biography of Sridevi goes deep into the world of the late superstar".
  9. ^ Writing Tips Oasis (11 May 2015). "51 Top Indian Authors to Follow on Facebook".
  10. ^ Hindustan Times. "The Emperor's Riddles : A Book For Believers".[dead link]
  11. ^ HT Brunch. "The Brunch Summer Reading List". Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
  12. ^ Yahoo. "Many hues of myths, mysteries and history".
  13. ^ a b TheHindu (4 July 2014). "Well Received". The Hindu.
  14. ^ The Pioneer. "Thrilled To Bits".
  15. ^ SpectralHues (3 December 2014). "A review of The Emperor's Riddles".
  16. ^ Times of India (7 January 2021). "Micro review Venom". The Times of India.
  17. ^ Free Press Journal. "Satyarth Nayak's Venom is a gripping thriller with a dash of Indian mythology".
  18. ^ TimesNow (13 August 2019). "Satyarth Nayak to write a book on legendary actor Sridevi".
  19. ^ The Hindu (14 March 2020). "'Sridevi, The Eternal Screen Goddess' review: Chronicle of a distant life". The Hindu.
  20. ^ Requiem for Her Dream (6 June 2020). "Requiem for Her Dream".
  21. ^ The Week. "Decoding an enigma". The Week.
  22. ^ Mid Day (26 February 2020). "Mystique That Lives On Still".
  23. ^ Vogue India (23 February 2020). "Sridevi's biography shares a rare insight into the late Bollywood actor's life".
  24. ^ Times of India (8 July 2020). "Satyarth Nayak's next book on Indian mythology to be published by Westland". The Times of India.
  25. ^ The Telegraph. "A few books scheduled for 2021 that have us excited".
  26. ^ Amazon shuts down the ‘homegrown’ Westland Books: Is it an alarm bell for India’s publishing Industry, ask readers. "Amazon shuts down the 'homegrown' Westland Books: Is it an alarm bell for India's publishing Industry, ask readers". The Economic Times.
  27. ^ Satyarth Nayak’s mythological magnum-opus to be published by HarperCollins (8 July 2022). "Satyarth Nayak's mythological magnum-opus to be published by HarperCollins - Times of India". The Times of India.
  28. ^ OrissaDiary. "Satyarth Nayak from Odisha appointed as a lead writer for Sony's upcoming mega-budget historical TV series PORUS".
  29. ^ Midday (25 July 2017). "Porus: The most expensive Indian television show with a budget of Rs 500 million".
  30. ^ "'Porus' launched as 'Digvijaya' in Sri Lanka". 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  31. ^ "After Sri Lanka, Swastik Productions' 'Porus' travels to Thailand". 26 February 2018.
  32. ^ orissadiary (24 December 2017). "Seventh Odisha Living Legend Award conferred".
  33. ^ Pioneer. "Men Achievers Felicitated in the City".