Rating: 2.5/5 stars
While not a personal fan of Chetan Bhagat’s books (I’ve read about 3 of them) I decided to give this new one a try, partly because of the massive publicity it garnered (well done, PR) and partly because of the general positive reviews it got.
One of the first things that struck me when I read Chetan Bhagat for the first time, was the inherent darkness of his words. There always seems to be that element of suppressed anger and disappointment lurking somewhere between the pages, which manifests itself in his words. Betrayal and heartbreak are constant companions as we travel the path his books take us down, and this book is no different.
Another appealing aspect of his books are the familiarity of the situations that his protagonists are subject to; situations which a lot of us can relate to, unlike many of the western novels we usually frequent. Things like Nanis pulling cheeks and giving laddoos are ever-present, and the general atmosphere of the Indian upper-class college is very well built up.
The dark language and extreme relatability of his situation ensures one thing, provided we read it seriously– we are in for one heck of an emotional ride.
Having said that, the plot, however, is simply too predictable and basic to be enjoyable.
The general theme of the book throws itself at us at the very first sentence we read of the summary, and I quote –
“Once upon a time, there was a Bihari boy called Madhav. He fell in love with a rich girl from Delhi called Riya.”
The points of information these two lines provide us with –
1. The boy comes from a poor background.
2. The girl comes from a rich one.
3. True to the beaten-up Romeo-Juliet/Bollywood cliché that this book will attempt to immerse us in, there will quite predictably be another rich fellow who will steal the girl away from Madhav
4. Madhav will be sad. Very sad.
And this is exactly what happens. Which is why this book is not for those who value books for a complex and volatile plot, with deep characterization and the inherent quality of every exceptional book – unpredictability.
Moving on to the actual story of the book, Madhav is a boy who’s been admitted to one of the most prestigious colleges in India- St. Stephen’s Delhi, thanks to Sports Quota. He studied in a Hindi medium school, and throughout the book expresses a crippling phobia of speaking in English. The girl, Riya, comes from a rich family (surprise, surprise!). Madhav and Riya bond over their common love for basketball (Madhav actually bonds over little other than her good looks).
The societal class hierarchy is one of the few things well depicted in the book, manifesting in the form of Madhav’s feelings of inadequacy and insecurity in dealing with Riya’s rich parents and friends. It is a concept that is ever-present in every Indian scenario.
One of the ‘finer’ points about this book is the ‘depth’ with which he proceeds to explain the characters. In Madhav’s case, while there is a significant amount of character development, his character remains an extremely clichéd character, playing the part of the simple, inexperienced and nervous village boy experiencing fist love, and leaves a certain lack of originality. The female protagonist, Riya, does have a significantly complex character in the beginning, which proceeds only to deteriorate as the book progresses, all attempts of character building having failed. Madhav and Riya, who begin as a clichéd but extremely cute couple end up gnawing at your nerves towards the middle part of the book, with extremely irritating dialogues and the supreme stupidity of Madhav in dealing with members of the opposite sex. No, really, that guy has a basketball for a brain.
While the book follows through in its predictable predictability for quite a while, There is one major twist towards the end which doesn’t really come off as very shocking. It’s also one of the failed attempts at the building the character of Riya which was hinted at, earlier. Once again, a very Bollywood move to pull.
All in all, the book is most definitely a light read. Do not go for it if you’re looking for more than a few hours of simple entertainment. The first quarter of the book is very well written, witty language, but as mentioned before, you end up getting majorly annoyed at Madhav towards the middle, which brings down the general level of the book. However, this is definitely one of his better books.
-Utkarsh Pathak
While not a personal fan of Chetan Bhagat’s books (I’ve read about 3 of them) I decided to give this new one a try, partly because of the massive publicity it garnered (well done, PR) and partly because of the general positive reviews it got.
One of the first things that struck me when I read Chetan Bhagat for the first time, was the inherent darkness of his words. There always seems to be that element of suppressed anger and disappointment lurking somewhere between the pages, which manifests itself in his words. Betrayal and heartbreak are constant companions as we travel the path his books take us down, and this book is no different.
Another appealing aspect of his books are the familiarity of the situations that his protagonists are subject to; situations which a lot of us can relate to, unlike many of the western novels we usually frequent. Things like Nanis pulling cheeks and giving laddoos are ever-present, and the general atmosphere of the Indian upper-class college is very well built up.
The dark language and extreme relatability of his situation ensures one thing, provided we read it seriously– we are in for one heck of an emotional ride.
Having said that, the plot, however, is simply too predictable and basic to be enjoyable.
The general theme of the book throws itself at us at the very first sentence we read of the summary, and I quote –
“Once upon a time, there was a Bihari boy called Madhav. He fell in love with a rich girl from Delhi called Riya.”
The points of information these two lines provide us with –
1. The boy comes from a poor background.
2. The girl comes from a rich one.
3. True to the beaten-up Romeo-Juliet/Bollywood cliché that this book will attempt to immerse us in, there will quite predictably be another rich fellow who will steal the girl away from Madhav
4. Madhav will be sad. Very sad.
And this is exactly what happens. Which is why this book is not for those who value books for a complex and volatile plot, with deep characterization and the inherent quality of every exceptional book – unpredictability.
Moving on to the actual story of the book, Madhav is a boy who’s been admitted to one of the most prestigious colleges in India- St. Stephen’s Delhi, thanks to Sports Quota. He studied in a Hindi medium school, and throughout the book expresses a crippling phobia of speaking in English. The girl, Riya, comes from a rich family (surprise, surprise!). Madhav and Riya bond over their common love for basketball (Madhav actually bonds over little other than her good looks).
The societal class hierarchy is one of the few things well depicted in the book, manifesting in the form of Madhav’s feelings of inadequacy and insecurity in dealing with Riya’s rich parents and friends. It is a concept that is ever-present in every Indian scenario.
One of the ‘finer’ points about this book is the ‘depth’ with which he proceeds to explain the characters. In Madhav’s case, while there is a significant amount of character development, his character remains an extremely clichéd character, playing the part of the simple, inexperienced and nervous village boy experiencing fist love, and leaves a certain lack of originality. The female protagonist, Riya, does have a significantly complex character in the beginning, which proceeds only to deteriorate as the book progresses, all attempts of character building having failed. Madhav and Riya, who begin as a clichéd but extremely cute couple end up gnawing at your nerves towards the middle part of the book, with extremely irritating dialogues and the supreme stupidity of Madhav in dealing with members of the opposite sex. No, really, that guy has a basketball for a brain.
While the book follows through in its predictable predictability for quite a while, There is one major twist towards the end which doesn’t really come off as very shocking. It’s also one of the failed attempts at the building the character of Riya which was hinted at, earlier. Once again, a very Bollywood move to pull.
All in all, the book is most definitely a light read. Do not go for it if you’re looking for more than a few hours of simple entertainment. The first quarter of the book is very well written, witty language, but as mentioned before, you end up getting majorly annoyed at Madhav towards the middle, which brings down the general level of the book. However, this is definitely one of his better books.
-Utkarsh Pathak