Urmila

Urmila is an alternative narrative of the Ramayana, the story of the abandoned throne of Ayodhya, the bonds of sisterhood and the anxieties of a multi-racial, multi-cultural Bharat with matriarchal influences from the east. It's an ancient epic set in a fantasy world with modern values and political tensions between kingdoms that mirror the geo-politics of the modern world and its leaders. It follows a reluctant princess, the heir to the throne of Mithila who constantly questions her credentials and ability to rule and is always looking for ways to shrug out of those responsibilities. She's a strong, resolute and independent, always under the shadow of her older sister. Urmila, unlike her sister with her divine roots, is human, with fears and weaknesses that are human as is the way she deals with them, which makes for a relatable protagonist.
It's mythology with a twist, where the route is the same, but the actions and motivations of characters make for a very different flavour.

Smriti Dewan is a professional screenwriter and director, having 9 years of experience in the television industry and OTT platforms. She started her career assisting on post production in Red Chilies Entertainment and moved on to work as an Assistant Director on Kaun Banega Crorepati, assisting on television and film scripts, both fiction and non fiction. To sum up she has worked on around 12 shows for the Discovery Network, including their channels TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery ID, the History Channel and National Geographic Channel. Her fiction writing includes shows like Ashoka on Colours, Lajwanti on Zee Tv and an unreleased sports biopic.
She started directing short documentary features for 101India.com in 2016, and has written, hosted and directed around 15 films on unique, real stories of India, for which she received many accolades and the chance to speak at TEDxHIT Kolkata.
She has published many articles, but this is her first time writing a book. As an avid reader and enthusiast of Indian mythology, She chose to write her first book as a feminist take on Ramayana, through a marginal character like Urmila. A protagonist like her has mostly been pushed to the margins, her lack of participation in the exile, unlike her sister Sita's, always dismissed as an inability to survive tough circumstances. She chose to make this book a mythological fantasy fiction, where the trajectory of the epic remains the same, but the roles of its characters and their motivations behind them change. Urmila: The Forgotten Princess concentrates mostly on the part of Ramayana when Ram, Sita and Lakshman were in exile and the throne of Ayodhya remained unprotected amid political tension.