Far mightier than the sword 

Agni Sridhar talks about his books that have been made into films

Agni Sridhar, a name that ruled the underworld in Bengaluru in the late 80s, is today a soft-spoken person who is at his “happiest best” when his nose is “buried deep in books”. Despite being known as the dark lord, deep down he had strong literary leanings and craved to wield a pen rather than a machete.

One thought that always tugged at his heart was, “I was not the beast I was made out to be. I started writing about what drove me into the underworld,” says Agni, who adds that no matter what he does, his name will always be associated as a man from the underworld, who relives his memories by penning them down.

“It was not those experiences that inspired me to become a writer, but my innate desire to write, which I nurtured since I was a child. I started reading at the age of eight. By the time I was 20, I was associated with the top literary personalities of Karnataka. I was in the elite company of Lankesh and UR Anantmurthy... I was close to celebrities such as Rajkumar and even acted in a film with him in 1984. But, in my 30s, circumstances forced me into the underworld. At some point, I lost connection with everyone here. Yet, the desire to write always burned within me.”

Write Agni did, and his first published work was Daadaagiriya Dinagalu. Based on his life, the book blazed with honest emotions, weaknesses and the agony of his life in the underworld. It was made into a Kannada film — Aa Dinagalu (2007).

Directed by KM Chaitanya, the film starred Chethan Kumar, Sharath Lohitashwa, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Atul Kulkarni and Veda Sastry among others. It went on to become a cult film and bagged every award during its time (2007-08), including the Karnataka State Film Award.

Agni believes: “At that time, there were writers who wrote about the underworld in a glamorous manner leaning on their imagination. Everything was xaggerated.” 

People, Agni says looked at him as if he were a beastly character. “That was when I decided that this perception of me and this world can be changed only through my writings. I wanted to show that even in the underworld there are emotions, relationships, situations and incidents that can make anyone become anything.”