The Book Banditos.
Book clubs usually follow a familiar formula: choose a book, read it, discuss it politely and move on.
The Book Banditos seem to have decided that sounds far too sensible.
Built around the idea of being "a book club by authors, for readers," The Book Banditos brings together Gautham V Kedoor, Dr Prashant Pawar and Mansi Rai, three writers whose professional lives and literary tastes could hardly be more different.
At the centre of the project is Gautham V Kedoor, whose career has already travelled through two remarkably different worlds and needs no introduction in the world of Business
A seasoned business professional with nearly two decades of experience across retail, e-commerce, fashion and supply chain , Kedoor has been associated with businesses including Myntra.com and has gone on to hold senior leadership positions in the supply chain industry. But from 2025 onwards, another side of his career began attracting attention.
Kedoor emerged rapidly in Indian commercial fiction through the Bhujang Shetty series, which went on to become a bestseller and develop an increasingly devoted following. What began as an adventure-fiction series has since grown into a wider creative property, helping establish Kedoor as one of the fast-rising new names in Indian popular fiction.
At The Book Banditos, Kedoor takes charge of comics and graphic novels, bringing the sharp, irreverent humour that has become part of his writing identity. His reviews combine criticism with sarcasm, pop-culture references and observations that occasionally wander well beyond the book itself.
Providing a very different literary voice is Mansi Rai, a Canada-based author with roots in Jalandhar, Punjab, and the writer of Key for a Keychain, her debut romance published in December 2025.
With a background in Computer Science and Business Management, Rai has spent the past five years in the telecommunications industry and currently works in Leadership Development at Rogers Communications. Within The Book Banditos, she brings her love for classics, romance and mystery thrillers to the table, curating much of the club's classic literature, although being regarded as a masterpiece offers remarkably little protection once the arguments begin.
Completing the trio is Dr Prashant Pawar, born in Dapoli, Ratnagiri, and the author of the Empire of Wisdom series. An ENT surgeon by profession, he runs his own hospital in Malshiras Taluka, Solapur District, balancing a demanding medical career with a lifelong passion for literature, comics and imaginative storytelling.
Within The Book Banditos, Pawar champions independent literature, bringing lesser-known authors and indie titles into conversations alongside established publishing names and giving the club a strong discovery-driven edge.
The formula is wonderfully straightforward: Kedoor brings the comics, Rai brings the classics, Pawar brings the indie discoveries, and then the arguments begin.
That chemistry is what separates The Book Banditos from a conventional review platform. The trio disagree, tease one another, defend their favourites and occasionally wander so far from the original discussion that locating the book again becomes part of the entertainment.
Yet beneath the banter sits serious curation. Graphic novels share space with classics, independent writers sit alongside bestsellers, and no book is considered too celebrated to be questioned.
At a time when books compete with streaming, gaming, reels and the endless digital scroll, The Book Banditos is taking a different approach. Rather than making reading appear more serious, it is trying to make reading more entertaining to talk about.
Kedoor's commercial experience, storytelling and humour provide much of the platform's energy, Rai adds an international perspective and a strong classics selection, while Pawar brings indie discoveries and a distinctly different literary lens.
For years, literary communities have largely operated around recommendations, reviews and structured discussions. The Banditos retain all three, but package them very differently. Their disagreements are not edited out. The banter is part of the format. Their contrasting tastes are treated less as a problem to be resolved and more as the entertainment itself.
The videos, consequently, have become as important to the club's identity as the books being discussed. The trio joke, argue, interrupt one another and occasionally appear less like literary critics and more like friends who happened to discover that somebody had switched the camera on.
Beneath the chaos, however, is a straightforward objective: to get more people interested in reading.
And that may be exactly why it works.
Follow The Book Banditos on Instagram at @the.book.banditos
