From Page to Screen: The Story Behind The Hunt
When The Hunt dropped on SonyLIV, it gripped audiences with its taut storytelling and razor-sharp detail. The series recreates the investigation that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. And it had good source material to base this on — journalist Anirudhya Mitra’s book Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassins.
For anyone who binged the show and wants the full story, the book is essential reading. It’s a first-hand, no-nonsense account of one of India’s most high-profile investigations — a narrative that plays out like a real-life political thriller.
Read on to explore the historical context of the assassination, how The Hunt came to be adapted, what the book offers beyond the series, and why it deserves a place on your reading list.
The Hunt: A Series Rooted in History
Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, The Hunt takes us back to 21 May 1991 — the night a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur claimed the life of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The attack, carried out by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), shocked the nation and set off a high-stakes investigation led by the CBI’s Special Investigation Team.
The series follows IPS officer D. Karthikeyan (Amit Sial) and his team as they race against time to track the one-eyed conspirator, Sivarasan, and uncover the web of operatives behind the plot. Packed with period detail, tense standoffs, and moral grey areas, it’s as much a study of investigative grit as it is a slice of Indian political history.
The Book Behind the Show
Published by HarperCollins, Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassins is Anirudhya Mitra’s meticulous account of the investigation. At 10.20 p.m. that fateful night, a young woman bowed before Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally — seconds later, an explosion changed the course of Indian politics.
Mitra, then a crime reporter for India Today, had unparalleled access to officers, case files, and ground intelligence. In Ninety Days, he reconstructs the operation with journalist’s precision — from piecing together the LTTE’s plan to the tense 36-hour delay before storming Sivarasan’s final hideout. He doesn’t shy away from the unanswered questions either, including why some leads were dropped and how the political climate shaped the chase.
Why the Book Stands Apart
While The Hunt offers a gripping dramatization, Mitra’s Ninety Days delivers the granular, behind-the-scenes reality. The prose is fast-paced, the research exhaustive, and the stakes palpable. You get the facts straight from the people who lived them — a detail that lends authenticity and weight to every page.
It’s also a rare example of true crime that doesn’t sensationalise its subject. Mitra treats every character, from investigators to suspects, with the kind of measured humanity that Kukunoor carried into his adaptation. The result is a narrative that works as history, reportage, and a page-turner all at once.
If you’ve watched The Hunt and found yourself wanting more, or news about the show has triggered your curiosity, Ninety Days is the natural next step. It’s not just a book about a political assassination — it’s about the mechanics of justice, the fallibility of systems, and the human cost of power struggles.
