K Hari Kumar

K Hari Kumar, is the 24-year old author of the urban fiction, When Strangers meet... He's also an international award nominated Photographer and independent filmmaker who has worked in over twenty television commercials, directed 8 short films and two documentaries (one for an international artist). Some of his works include My Name is Iyer, The Man who loved me, Sandarsakan and Tum Se Hi.

Biography
K Hari Kumar's second short film 'The Man who loved me' was a commercial suspense thriller on homosexuality. The film was selected at the IFF 2011, Melbourne. His debut novel 'When Strangers meet..' is an adaptation of his first short film 'My name is Iyer'. The book has already sold out its first two impressions within three months of its release and has been featured in many prestigious Indian channels of print media.

His debut novel is a fast paced 'entertainer' that talks about father-son relationships from the viewpoints of three different strata of society and how the Story of one Stranger inspires the lives of the others. His story has inspiration in the Tamil movie Anbe Sivam which was directed by his idol Kamal Haasan.

Early life
Hari was born in 1989, in the city of Cochin, to Krishnamoorthy and Mahalakshmi As a preteen. Hari studied in various schools owing to his father's transferable. His curiosity in Visual Arts and Popular Fiction kept growing over the years. He was fascinated by the works of Roald Dahl, Conan Doyle, Paulo Coelho & Dan Brown. However his craze for films went head over heels after watching a Mani Ratnam's film, Guru in 2007. His inspirations include Kamal Haasan, Hitchcock, Ron Howard, Tim Burton & Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Hari started making short films in college while living in Gurgaon with his juniors in college after having an inspiring conversation with Bollywood director Sangeeth Sivan over a popular social media site.

Career
He started writing a short love story after watching Mozhi however he could not film it due to health issues in 2010 after which he went into a deep depression. However, he started writing another script called My name is Iyer which he later on went on to film on the first day of the Commonwealth Games of 2010. A month later, he started penning down the 5 short film into a full fledged novel that was initially titled The Metro Station. He started the work on November 2010 and coincidentally the lines from popular rock song November Rain has a prominent mention in the preface of the paperback of When Strangers meet.

After completing the book on May 2011 Hari started his hunt for a publisher. The manuscript for his debut novel The Metro Station was rejected by half a dozen publishers. During this time he shifted his base from Gurgaon to Kerala. He had started working as an assistant director in Cochin to ad film directors. He had given up hopes to see his book getting published. However, after 18 months one of India's leading publishers 'Srishti Publishers & Distributors' agreed to publish Hari's work under a different title. The book was then renamed to When Strangers meet..

Novels
K Hari Kumar's first novel was published on May 1, 2013 by Srishti Publishers & Distributors. The book has already sold two impressions and is on its way to the next edition.

When Strangers meet.. (2013)
When Strangers meet... is the story of three strangers who meet each other inside a small room inside damp metro station in Delhi and how the story of a stranger's past will change the present of another and future of the third. In his debut novel Hari tries to take on the existing problems faced by the youth of India namely, Chasing dreams, Paternal expectations & Maternal Pampering. Response : The book opened mostly to positive reviews with an average rating of 4.25 on Goodreads (70+ reviews), while few pointed out lack of 'class appeal'. The easy to read narration and a simple plot with an unpredictable ending won thousands of hearts. Criticism : While majority of the readers loved K Hari Kumar's easy to read narration however it did not go down well with the critics. Reviewers have quoted the book as "Although not a literary delight, but still quite a page turner. Could be the next Bollywood flick.". It was also mentioned in The Hindu that the book belonged to the category of 'mass appeal'. Marketing techniques : K Hari Kumar followed an intense self-marketing technique and went on from city to city promoting his books in the tiniest of shops. He gave away books for free. He filmed a trailer for his book in Cochin & Delhi which is India's first Cinematic trailer shot at live locations with live characters. He himself designed posters and flyers for the book. He also gave talk sessions on Generation Gap & problems faced by youth, which are the main themes covered by his book When Strangers meet.., in various schools & colleges across North Indian cities of Gurgaon, Noida & Kanpur. His vigorous marketing techniques were compared to the likes of Chetan Bhagat, Amish tripathi, Ravinder Singh & Durjoy Dutta in a cover story by The Hindu.