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Vibha Jindal
मि. चैलेंज
Mr. Challenge is a murder mystery written by renowned Hindi mystery writer - Ved Prakash Sharma. It’s a novel under the Vibha Jindal series of the author in which the role of the detective is performed by an intelligent lady - Vibha Jindal who is actually the head of a big industrial house. In the novels of this series, the author has portrayed her as his college buddy. She is a widow and the mother of a son. She solves mysteries just out of her interest in this line.
The unique characteristic of the novels under this series is that the author himself also remains present alongwith his (real) family members showing himself and his family as interacting with Vibha Jindal and taking part in the proceedings of the story. This feature renders a realistic flavour to the novel and adds spice to the story, increasing its entertainment value.
Mr. Challenge starts with the author’s trying to write a whodunit under the same title (Mr. Challenge) when his wife (Madhu) enters his study and finds that for the past four days, her husband has not been able to even start the novel. Then she shows him a newspaper headline which is regarding a murder taken place in their own city - Meerut (U.P.). The murder has taken place in a college and the victim was a lady lecturer. She was stabbed by someone in the morning of the previous day and in her attempt to save her from the murderer, she fell from the roof of the college. The most intriguing thing that happened after that was that she wrote (using her own blood as ink) - CHALLENGE on the floor before dying. Since the author had closed himself in his study (to write the novel), virtually disconnecting himself from the world, he did not come to know of it till his wife make him read the news in the newspaper of the following day. Now our author feels that this real life incident can become the perfect plot for his new novel which is to be titled as Mr. Challenge. He, therefore, comes out of the house and enters the field.
The unique characteristic of the novels under this series is that the author himself also remains present alongwith his (real) family members showing himself and his family as interacting with Vibha Jindal and taking part in the proceedings of the story. This feature renders a realistic flavour to the novel and adds spice to the story, increasing its entertainment value.
Mr. Challenge starts with the author’s trying to write a whodunit under the same title (Mr. Challenge) when his wife (Madhu) enters his study and finds that for the past four days, her husband has not been able to even start the novel. Then she shows him a newspaper headline which is regarding a murder taken place in their own city - Meerut (U.P.). The murder has taken place in a college and the victim was a lady lecturer. She was stabbed by someone in the morning of the previous day and in her attempt to save her from the murderer, she fell from the roof of the college. The most intriguing thing that happened after that was that she wrote (using her own blood as ink) - CHALLENGE on the floor before dying. Since the author had closed himself in his study (to write the novel), virtually disconnecting himself from the world, he did not come to know of it till his wife make him read the news in the newspaper of the following day. Now our author feels that this real life incident can become the perfect plot for his new novel which is to be titled as Mr. Challenge. He, therefore, comes out of the house and enters the field.
- GenresMystery
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About the author
Ved Prakash Sharma
114 books256 followersVed Prakash Sharma was an Indian writer of novels and screenplays in Hindi. He was born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where he completed his graduation from NAS Degree College. Having begun his professional career as a ghost writer, he went on to write 176 novels (ghostwriting around 23 novels of them). Dahekte Shaher (1973) was the first novel Sharma got credit for. He primarily wrote detective novels, among them Kalyug ki Ramayan and Vardi Wala Gunda were his famous works. The main characters in his detective novels were Vijay, Vikas, Raghunath, Alphanse, Vibha Jindal, Keshav Pandit and Raina. According to his Times of India obituary his 1992 novel Vardi Wala Gunda "broke all records and sold 15 lakh copies on the very first day of its release", while the Hindu reported overall sales of "80 million copies".
Sharma also made several contributions to Bollywood, the Hindi film industry in India. His novel Bahu Maange Insaaf was adapted for film Bahu Ki Awaaz in 1985, while Anaam (1992) too was based on his work. Sharma also contributed to two installments in the Khiladi series of Akshay Kumar films—Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995) and International Khiladi (1999). In 2010 Zee TV aired Keshav Pandit, a series based on the character created by Sharma. He founded Tulsi Comics and also created few comic characters like Jambu.
Sharma died aged 62 on 17 February 2017 in Meerut; he had been suffering from lung cancer for almost a year.
Sharma also made several contributions to Bollywood, the Hindi film industry in India. His novel Bahu Maange Insaaf was adapted for film Bahu Ki Awaaz in 1985, while Anaam (1992) too was based on his work. Sharma also contributed to two installments in the Khiladi series of Akshay Kumar films—Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995) and International Khiladi (1999). In 2010 Zee TV aired Keshav Pandit, a series based on the character created by Sharma. He founded Tulsi Comics and also created few comic characters like Jambu.
Sharma died aged 62 on 17 February 2017 in Meerut; he had been suffering from lung cancer for almost a year.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 2, 2019
Best mystery story
March 23, 2025
When I read it the first time, it had left me in awe. It was one of the perfect whodunnits like Agatha Christie's "And there were none". The writer has woven the series of events so well that the readers like me are star-struck. Hence, I enjoyed this novel as much as I had enjoyed it the first time even though I knew the end. Ved Prakash Sharma is one of the brilliant novelists of suspense and thriller genre.
November 30, 2019
This was first non-academic book I ever read. It introduced me to New world where books became friends.
This book is gripping and page Turner
This book is gripping and page Turner
Want to read
June 20, 2020Mr. Challenge
May 9, 2024
One of the worst books that I’ve ever read…so cliched and so melodramatic that reading the book seemed like watching a typical 80s southern productions film. No substance and over the top drama.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews