Will you give this book a listen?

Discover the world of Tamil audiobooks, a growing trend that offers convenience, accessibility, and a new way to enjoy literature.

With rising screentime and shrinking attention spans, sitting down to read a book often feels like a Herculean task. But in an increasingly digital world, audiobooks have emerged as the perfect companion to help tackle those unread titles on your list. Just pop your headphones on, and let the immersive narration and sound effects transport you into the heart of the story — making the reading experience more engaging, accessible, and intimate than ever before.

“There is a considerable population which does not know how to read and write in Tamil but can speak and understand,” says Rajesh Devadas, owner of Pustaka Digital, an e-book and audiobooks publication. He adds that this is driving their market.

It is why we see as many publishers jumping on the audiobook bandwagon. To make the product more appealing, celebrities have been roped in to read, providing better visibility to some tales. For instance, actor Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli has narrated books such as Thanneer and Kalvananin Kadhali, among others. Actor Raaghav Ranganathan who has voiced for books like Perumal Murugan’s Koolamathari and Sundara Ramaswamy’s Prasadam, had hopped on to the trend of book narration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data shared by Yogesh Dashrath, country manager at Storytel India, more than 70% listen to regional content in India, as against 30% who listen to audiobooks in the English language. Audiobooks also help people who migrate to different cities and countries and are looking for ways to stay connected with their roots.One hence notices how audiobooks increase the consumption of books in regional languages — the content is economical, and available with just a tap.

Kunj Sanghvi, head of content at Kuku FM, noticed that YouTube didn’t have enough content for the Tamil-speaking audience, and hence began converting Tamil print books into audiobooks. On Kuku FM, the best selling writers are Kalki, Indra Soundar Rajan, Pattukottai Prabhakar, Perumal Murugan, Gokul Seshadri and Indumathi, among others.

As per data shared by Kunj, 2.2 lakh people have been listening to Kalki, and 2.1 lakh people have listened to the works of Rajesh Kumar on Kuku FM. There are 2.5 lakh Tamil subscribers.

Audiobooks also make learning the language easier. “Put it in your pocket or listen to it on a speaker in your car. You don’t have to look at it while listening. This will reduce your screentime as well,” says Murali Kannadosan, who runs Kannadasan Pathippagam. Kannadasan Pathippagam is a bookstore and publishing house of poet, lyricist and writer Kannadasan whose works can now be accessed auditorily.