'You Turn' book review: Medimix may be Anoop’s bread-and-butter, but his career has other milestones

It is difficult to slot A.V. Anoop, though entrepreneur would come close. After all, this is the man who took to plying his family van as a private taxi to make ends meet when his high-ranking bureaucrat father suddenly passed away due to heart attack and the family finances hit doldrums. That he started earning multiples of his father’s basic pay in no time was equally a harbinger of things to come – Anoop would go on to make his flagship product Medimix, the largest-selling ayurvedic soap in the world.

But that’s like calling Elon Musk as just the man who runs Tesla. Medimix may be Anoop’s bread-and-butter, but his career has other milestones along the path to stake their claim to legacy, ranging from the successful ayurveda hospital Sanjeevanam (as well as an ortho-balm with the same name), the popular masala brand Melam, not to forget his exploits in cinema, both as a producer as well as, wait for it, actor.

And did we mention his activities as a philanthropist in the realm of global diaspora organisations?

‘You Turn’, just launched in English, is a translation of the original Malayalam work of the same name (there is a translation in Tamil as well, considering how like most successful Malayali entrepreneurs, Anoop also left his home state and made Chennai his base). It is not an autobiography per se, but more an indulgent memoir, as Anoop looks back on his accomplishments and the long path he has traversed till yet.

That would include taking over his uncle Dr Sidhan’s concoction of 18 ayurvedic ingredients into a home-made soap and turning it into a global smash. Anoop does describe the early days, like cycling to shops and dealers, as well as taking the local train in Mumbai and trying to get the products on shelves at local provision stores in and around the suburban stations. As also the tough initial days when he used to wait outside his bank hoping the account would have enough credit for him to pay his employees.

However, as we said earlier, this is more a memoir than an autobiography, so the reader does not get the full origin story per se, as the author fast-forwards into other aspects of his incident-filled personal story.  In fact, he seems to get more evocative while delving into the creative bent of his career, be it the plays he used to meticulously rehearse for, as well as the many film stars and filmmakers he crossed paths during his continuing stint in the film industry (he did a full-length role in a Malayalam film in 2024 and it is unlikely to be his last).

Besides film personalities, politicians to professionals as well as eminent personalities from all walks of life make an appearance, as does incidents both personal as well as public, ranging from earthquakes to terrorist bombings. It is indeed an indulgence in looking back at a life well-lived, as the chapters at times are not pretty chronological or flow according to subject matter – a chapter about Medimix business strategy is suddenly followed by one on the symbiotic relationship between Kerala and Tamil Nadu (which in turn is followed by one on his globetrotting). It is a nice, easy read, though some additional dope on how he built up Medimix into such a stature, in fine detail, would have made this book even more gripping.

You Turn, A Memoir

Author: A.V.Anoop

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 171

Price: Rs 399 (Paperback)