New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS): Voice artist Mayur Suvarna has won the 'Best Audiobook Narration - Male' award at the India Voice Fest 2021 for Mukund Rajan's widely acclaimed memoir 'The Brand Custodian: My Years with the Tatas' (HarperCollins).
The book is a study of the Tata group's evolution and explains the relevance of the conglomerate to the world we live in. It also offers a close portrait of the enigmatic Ratan Tata, from his longest-serving executive assistant.
"Mayur Suvarna was excellent as the narrator, and with his lovely voice and great command of the language, was a thoroughly deserving winner," Rajan said.
"As an author, I am very pleased with the speed with which the audiobooks genre has emerged on the publishing landscape. It has opened up an important space in the market to address new segments of literary enthusiasts, including those who are challenged for time. Customers now have the choice of listening to their favourite works even on the go, instead of being confined physically to spaces where they can read comfortably.
"And for talented artists like Mayur, this gives them the opportunity to showcase their full repertoire of capabilities. A great artist can really bring to life all the richness and drama of situations depicted in otherwise prosaic text. And speaking personally, I look forward to yet another swing at a new market segment with 'The Brand Custodian'. Maybe the OTT space next," Rajan added.
Suvarna said he was "overwhelmed with gratitude on receiving this award. This award is special to me because this project was completed during the pandemic period".
Kiran Motwani, Head - Operations & Business Relations, Sugar Mediaz Private Limited, which organizes India Voice Fest, said amongst the many entries submitted, Suvarna's "warm and expressive voice lent the right tone to the book adding value and authenticity to the author's writing and story. His passion for the script and performance was reflected in the end-product which won him the award".
S.K. (Raj) Barua, Director, Voicesmiths, the producers for the audiobook said: "Mayur has been a part of the Voicesmiths family since the beginning. When we started this project, he was the obvious choice and the perfect match given his command over the language and business acumen. His voice quality and narration style has produced this award-winning audiobook, which we are all proud of."
Udayan Mitra, Executive Publisher, HarperCollins India, said: "It's exciting that so many of our books are now being heard as well as read; I hope this wonderful award will encourage more readers to try works from their favourite authors in the audio format."
The audiobook edition of 'The Brand Custodian' is available for download on all major streaming platforms including Audible, Storytel, Google Play, iTunes among others. In India, audiobooks are one of the fastest growing categories for book sales and this win at India Voice Fest is the first major win for a HarperCollins India audiobook.