Last Updated:September 01, 2025, 16:52 IST
Through its numerous sections, the book showcases the diverse forms and functions of communication.
The Age of Influence book cover.
The book – The Age of Influence – compiles over 50 articles by Chaitanya K Prasad, a retired bureaucrat, along with his associates, Zoya Ahmad and Vaishnavie Srinivasan. This collection spans a variety of themes, including media narratives, public policy, branding, soft power, film festivals, celebrity culture, sports diplomacy, and geostrategic communication. The book is curated to reflect the complexity and dynamism of today’s communication domain.
In recent years, the architecture of communication has undergone significant changes. It has evolved from a static system of transmission to a dynamic mechanism that shapes how individuals, institutions, and nations perceive and are perceived. The traditional boundaries between message, medium, and meaning have blurred. In the book, various issues, whether political, cultural, social, or cinematic, are debated and reframed in real-time across an interconnected and volatile media landscape.
The purpose of this compilation is not to provide conclusions but to open windows. Through its numerous sections, the book showcases the diverse forms and functions of communication, its tone, reach, rhythm, and role in both subtle and significant shifts. Each article is presented not just as a standalone commentary but as part of a larger tapestry that emphasizes the centrality of narrative in shaping both policy and public imagination. Themes are approached with an awareness of their interplay, illustrating how a branding campaign intersects with diplomacy, how cinema translates into soft power, and how a moment of virality unveils deeper truths about social sentiment.
By capturing this diversity, the book chronicles not just events but also undercurrents. A dominant thread throughout the compilation is the influence of cinema and celebrity culture on collective consciousness. The rise of film festivals as global cultural forums, the strategic branding of public figures, and the evolving relationship between entertainment and nation-building are examined in depth. The book invites engagement from various sectors, including policy, media, academia, governance, and culture.
Readers are encouraged to navigate the collection freely, form their own associations, and interpret the essays not as absolute truths but as entry points into larger conversations. This book positions communication not merely as a profession or academic field but as a form of influence, memory, and meaning-making.
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