Westland Ltd to release Rensil D'Silva's novel Kohinoor Express in 2015

Westland Ltd, a leading publication house and the retail arm of the Tata group, the largest diversified industrial group in India, has added another name to its enviable list of authors and he is none other than the screenplay writer of the nationally acclaimed Bollywood film Rang De Basanti and director of Kurbaan, Rensil D’Silva who is now on the cusp of releasing his debut novel Kohinoor Express. Kohinoor Express, a historical thriller set in the 1800s follows the trail of the Kohinoor after it was taken away by the British from Ranjit Singh after the last Sikh War and handed over to Queen Victoria. The novel charts the story of that epic journey. It is also a story of a band of unlikely heroes who were determined to stop the world’s greatest diamond from falling into the hands of the British and leaving India’s shores forever at all costs. Observes Rensil, “The novel was born out of my fascination for the Kohinoor and my decade-long research into the history of the diamond. I have repeatedly visited the Tower Of London, just to gaze at it and have spent many hours delving into its past. While I have directed many stories for movies, advertising and television in the last ten years, few stories have excited me as much as this has.” Rensil has worked with some of the biggest Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut to name a few. He has also worked extensively with directors as diverse as Karan Johar, Mani Ratnam, Shoojit Sircar and David Dhawan. His next release Ungli, produced by Dharma Productions, stars a plethora of stars including Emraan Hashmi, Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut and Randeep Hooda. Additionally, Rensil has also forayed into television with the popular fiction show 24 for which he wrote and directed six episodes. Kohinoor Express is up for a 2015 release.