Setting a trend of sorts,Illuminati’s Agent Vinod is the first film in the history of Indian cinema to have commissioned a full-fledged graphic novel to compliment a film.

Titled the “The Jungfrau Encounter”, the meaty 90 pager is written byYogesh Chandekar with art by Saumin Patel and is published by Westland Ltd .

Backed by the major publisher, The Jungfrau Encounter will kick-start a graphic novel series that will run parallel with the Agent Vinod franchise  .Not an adaptation of Illuminati action thriller, the book, set in the same fictional universe is an original novel which introduces Agent Vinod .

Confirms Paul Vinay Kumar, publisher, Westland Ltd, “The graphic novel (based on “Agent Vinod”) we are doing is called “The Jungfrau Encounter” and does not follow the film script. It talks about the introduction of Agent Vinod, so in a way, it is setting the tone of the character. We didn’t want to have a straight adaptation of the film, that is why the name of the novel is different. We were given the script to understand the character and the mood of the film. Based on this, we have a new story that talks about the origin of the lead character. Thus, there is a degree of independence here and the plot varies.” Adding that  “All Bollywood films cannot be converted into graphic novels because you need to have a sense of curiosity and novelty, and also a very strong character. It is an experiment for us and if we receive a good response from our readers, we will continue with the franchise. Saif Ali Khan was involved in the beginning as he liked the idea.”.

If that wasn’t all ,Saif Ali Khan himself has written a foreword for the book which also features an afterword by director Sriram Ragahvan introducing the characters of the film.

“The Jungfrau Encounter” revolves around four mysterious strangers meeting at a restaurant high up in the Bernese Alps of Jungfrau. They are there to settle a score with Agent Vinod, who is responsible for the predicament each of them are in.

Says director Sriram Ragahvan “Except for the first sequence in which I used some elements from the novel and the style, both of us have been working independently but in sync, in an effort to take Agent Vinod beyond the movie. If the film works we, could flag off a popular fiction series that runs parallel with the movie franchise”.

‎Says producer Dinesh Vijan “We’ve often said that agent Vinod is an inspired cross between the Tintin comics and the Bond series. So nothing could be more befitting than releasing this brilliant comic book which gives us an unseen glimpse into the wild wild world of Agent Vinod!”.

Priced at Rs. 295, Agent Vinod ‘s “The Jungfrau Encounter” will release before the film and will be available at all leading bookstores and with major online retailers.

Shot in over 12 countries including  Morocco, Russia and Latvia, the highly anticipated action-adventure –Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer Agent Vinod directed by Sriram Ragahvan is all set to release on the 23rd of March 2012 .