Leading authors, award winning directors, distinguished officers will be star attraction

Dehradun, 30 Oct: The city is going to have the proud privilege of holding the first Crime Literature Festival of India (CLFI) from November 3 to 5, 2023 at Welham Boys’ School. The festival’s USP lies in the fact that it is dedicated to just one genre of writing and visual adaptations – crime.

The festival was announced today at a press conference held at Welham Boys’ School by the Director Aloke B Lal.

The festival has an impressive line-up of authors, film-makers, actors and police officers who will work towards the realisation of the vision of the event – spreading awareness among the lay citizens about the genesis of crime, the working of the criminal mind, and how the investigators bring the perpetrators to justice.

Apart from the books dedicated to crime non-fiction and fiction, it is their adaptation to the screen that multiplies the reach of the message to the viewers. It is with this objective that the festival is bringing storytellers and creative minds of the silver screen on a single platform.

The leading authors include S Hussain Zaidi (Dongri to Dubai, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Black Friday), Kiran Manral (The Kitty Party Murder, Missing Presumed Dead) and Anirban Bhattacharya (The Deadly Dozen, India’s Money Heist) among others.

A few among the notable personalities from the world of cinema are national award–winning directors Sujoy Gosh (‘Kahaani’, ‘Jaane Jaan’) and Sanjay Gupta (‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’, ‘Aatish’, ‘Kaante’), actors Avinash Tiwary (‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’, ‘Bambai Meri Jaan’) and Rajshri Deshpande (‘Sacred Games’, ‘Trial By Fire’). Distinguished police officers like K Vijay Kumar (Former Director-General CRPF and author of Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand), Vibhuti Narain Rai (Former DGP and author of Shahar Mein Curfew, Ramgarh Mein Hatya), Aloke Lal (Former DGP and author of The Barabanki Narcos, Murder in the Bylanes, On the Trail of Thugs and Thieves), Ashok Kumar (DGP, Uttarakhand and author of Khaki Mein Insaan, Cyber Encounters), Neeraj Kumar (Former Commissioner of Police, Delhi and author of A Cop in Cricket, Khaki Files), Navniet Sekera (Additional Director General of Police) and Amit Lodha (Inspector General of Police and author of Bihar Diaries, Life in Uniform) will also participate as panellists in the event. Aloke Lal, IPS (Retired), is the Festival Director.

The event is supported by the Hans Foundation and ONGC who have made generous contributions for giving shape to the vision of combating crime.

The entry to the Crime Literature Festival of India is for all those who are interested in literature and cinema. A small requirement is to register online to be a valued spectator.

Author & Columnist Kulbhushan Kain, Dr Srishtee Sethi and Siddhant Arora

were present at the press conference.