Actress Kalki Koechlin, who was the part of Audible.in launch in India and narrated the Audible adaptation of Hussain Zaidi's novel, "Mafia Queens of Mumbai", says that the first thing that came to her mind when she read the book was the powerful writing. She also says that stories of female dons are not heard so much.
"First thoughts when I read the book many years ago was that it was so powerful! We don't hear about female dons. Jenabai is one of the characters I narrated, appears like this motherly figure to these gang-lords but she is also the one pulling the strings - and part of networking, master planning etc.
"Sapna Didi was my favourite story that spoke of the complete transformation of a meek woman who changed and became this legend to avenge her husband's death," she told IANS on email from Mumbai.
Kalki was present at the launch of Audible.in, a dedicated service for Indians by Audible, the world's leading seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word content. She along with actors Rajkummar Rao and Radhika Apte have come together for the first time to narrate the Audible adaptation of the novel.
"Mafia queens was a very good choice. So iconic of all these places in Mumbai that we know so well. We hear about Dawood's world, but we never heard about these women. Behind every great man is a woman. It's a full-fledged experience listening to "The Mafia Queens of Mumbai" and there are so many great stories like these in Audible's library.
"Some are fully designed with sound and music. Most are driven only by the incredible power of the human voice. I can't wait to listen," said Kalki.
The Audible app offers customers a platform for entertainment, education and provokes listeners. What do you think is the new definition of entertainment in India to which Kalki replied, "Entertainment is online media. Podcasts, web series, audio content, Audible. We are busy and commuting all the time, so audio especially is so important.
"We can zone out and don't need to actively read or be focused on a book. We can consume great content in a very nice way."
The actress says that it's been such a different experience working on an audio-only format.
"I hope our audience unlocks their imagination, with just our voices as their guide, to discover the story of ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai'. We didn't just lend our voices to this book, it was a complete production. With all the elements that go into an incredible project of this caliber: art, music, sound design… I know that this project will stimulate the imagination of our audiences," she said.