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3.54 

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Another Bollywood masala on the way
May 19, 2015 12:32 PM 5146 Views

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Story:

Writing reviews on books is not my cup of tea, Chalojai suits better as a storyteller. I am still not sure what made me read this book. Was going through an online library when I saw this an ordered a copy just for timepass. I have seen 3 idiots many times, as they keep on playing these movies now a days. I loved the concept. May be that's the reason I selected something from this author. When my mom saw the name on the cover, she felt genuinely interested. What about the other half? But frankly speaking, I was neither intrigued by the name, nor surprised. This concept is there for so long, even before we hit puberty. Wavelength matches but full length relationship not possible due to reason x. Thus, be satisfied with half and keep other options open, who knows when you get lucky!


By this time half of the population in india knows the story, or at least the synopsis as I guess. Because this is the "in" thing now. If somebody writes 3 bestsellers in a row, rest of his work also share the aura, no matter whatever trash that is.Well, I am not tagging "Half Girlfriend" as trash, either. Few things are genuinely interesting with an unexpected turn,especially the cancer and death flick. But overall, the novel is GROSS.


The story revolves around Madhav Jha, a country bumpkin from Bihar. He gets admission in a prestigious college and meets his lady love there. Well, few things are missing here. Why does always the guy fall for the girl only for her looks?CB could be different here. Especially the context where he represented Riya, her personality and charisma was enough for Madhav to fall in love. Well, one more thing is, the difference between the so called upper class and the middle class is depicted in exact Bollywood style. The way these striking differences have been depicted,that becomes so irritating and boring sometimes,isn't it? The Somanis wanted their girl to get settled asap,portraying them as conservative and orthodox.But at any other place or incident,they seemed to care least about their daughter.so strange! Which kind of parents allow the entry of a lesser known boy straight to their daughter's bedroom so easily? Or do only middle class people care about such things? At the end, the way they were completely in dark about Riya's whereabouts,something was completely loco there. Daughter was not treated well earlier,thus guilty consciousness.she got married,so responsibility gets over.Came back after divorce,why bother,only give her small allowances and leave a "secret inheritance".is that it? Did the author want to show how gross the so called monetarily rich,poor otherwise people are? Another Bollywood twist! There are numerous such small confusions in this book,in every chapter,every incident. It would be better to do some more research on things, to be more tolerant towards people from upper echelon in the society, for a writer like CB. Parents are parents after all,money and other stuff can't make their offspring less important,unlike bollywood commercials.People love drama,but not up to that extent,please! Serials are always serving drama,not one more movie with the same stuff!


Next,Riya's behavior. Either she was meant to be super cunning,always taking advantage of people around her and dumping them when purpose served.or else,the mahaan type of ladies we generally see in most hindi movies,suffering always,sacrifices for others and in order to do that,finally making a complete loser of herself! Unfortunately,the disproportionate amount of both in the character couldn't make it credible enough. Which could make a strong presence in the story,became quite lame,indecisive, hungry for affection and less self esteemed. Expected more at this point from CB.


Finally,Madhav! What did he want to prove, after all?!Love is blind,deaf,mute and finally dumb- the character proved it all.How far one can run after that one sided love? It looked like when he started falling for her,it was awe and infatuation. He learned to love during the journey of winning her love. But again,this doesn't settle well.As depicted in the book,his so called love was driven by physical desire and when not satiated he just didn't give up because of ego. In real life,people just don't be so crazy after love. Always there are few things called responsibilities,self respect, impulse control which keep people on the track. No love is immortal, everything comes with a shelf life. This factor is horribly missing in this story. With age,comes maturity. With maturity,comes the ability to judge oneself. It looked like the central character is passion driven,but with no ultimate goal. At the end of the story,the ultimate stereotype formula, "and they happily lived ever after" is followed.the missing factors nobody cares about, everybody is happy enough to see the prince got his princess finally.who dares to talk about the logic? Everything is fair in love and Bollywood!


Was it about career? Nope.why St. Stephen's was brought here,no clear idea. Any XYZ college with a basketball court would do justice,sparing the readers the beginning gimmick!


Was it about basketball? Sorry,that's the most neglected part. For a girl,when a guy leaves his long cherished dream in life,especially where he met the girl.that's not called sacrifice,but s-t-u-p-i-d-i-t-y. At least that's the general opinion.


Was it about responsibilities about Dumraon Royal School and the heritage? No way! Either Madhav was a mere puppet or taking whimsical decisions. Finally he got lucky,that's another bollywood flick,but again the story lost credibility there. The incidents are away from the reality and sounds quite whimsical. Why to enroll into a spoken english school for a speech?Following "Chatur" would be sufficient.because there was no question-answer round after that speech,as nobody had time.The entire idea sounds crazy!


Was it chasing the dreams? Upto some extent. But how,with so less qualification and proper work experience and a valid legal work permit Riya started working in NY,is another question.oh,I am asking too many questions! Shut up,Chalojai!


So what is left? Say,Love.no,no passion.not sure,hurt ego? Not really.then what,dude? Quite confusing. Do people really prefer doing this much or they just move on? I guess,in most of the cases the later one happens. If one is hopelessly in love with someone,there must be at least some amount of reciprocation from the other side too. Here that factor was absent. A girl plays with you,shares tiffin, sits and talks.next moment you can't ask her "Deti hain to de,warna kat le"! One tight slap,even complaint to the authorities may follow. This is another derogatory turning point of the story which I hated most. Are the females for that and only that? Irritating! And FYI,Mr. CB,boys always don't think about sex. Better you clear your head before writing your next novel,or else it is going to become another disaster,again.


I am not among the people who hate love stories. I am neither too much inclined,nor too reluctant to accept this particular type. What I found in this book is an overall confusion. What to place where and how, is missing. People like me, who prefer to watch every step before proceeding further,may find this story lame or not credible enough. But people who believe in "All's well that ends well" and get inspired,will like this book. I would give this book a 2.5 out of 5.


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