Boy loves girl, Girl loves boy. Their families are against their marriage, Ultimately, love overcomes all hindrances, they get married. Sounds like a cliché Bolly plot? Not quite, although practically the only catch being, they bring home the bacon without eloping or being estranged to their families. Right from page 1,rather from preface,well actually from the page before preface(i don't know what u call dat..!!) its riveting. He magnanimously dedicates this book to his in-laws(probably the 1st ever..!)Even his disclaimer reads.'You only make digs at people you care for’. With this, he subtly takes the liberty to make mirthful jokes of everything ‘Tamil’. It actually has glimpses of 'Five Point Someone', thrown here and there..prof's daughter..scandal in IIT,..Girlfriend's Dad's nightwear(In this case 'lungi':P)..missed previous convocation etc. Although Bhagat requests this book be treated as fiction he admits this is inspired by his own experiences.
The story moves at a brisk pace.The main protagonist's (Ananya and Krish) entire IIM career is done in about 36 pages. Needless to say it involves sex, sleepovers, studies and a self-satisfied solitary existence. The story then oscillates between Delhi and Chennai, so expect a lot of local jargon from these two states. Of course like all his rest of the novels this too has a happy ending (he could have tried something better here though..).
Amidst all this there is a healthy dose of colloquial humor. For instance: Krish, on visiting Ananya’s house for the first time, asks for Ananya and describes her father’s look “As if I asked him where he kept his porn collection.” In another scene, after making out and being asked by Ananya about future he writes "It is amazing how vulnerability in a relation shifts from boy to girl after having sex". He rightly states "In India, you don’t marry the guy (or girl for that matter), you have to marry the family. In fact, Krish does get 4 gold rings made to propose girl’s entire family!" Sounds cheesy ? Besides this he also puts light on some truths of life ,through his own witticism. As in the beginning when a prof humiliates Ananya, Krish consoles her by saying "Wont you hate an eleven year old if he earns more than you?"
Many people don't quite have a high opinion of this book, saying he has been exaggerating, he's being predictable in all his writings, he doesnt go into the nitty gritties of writing styles, rhymes and aliterations etc.Hell..who cares as long it can keep u engrossed. His words are simple, and his characters very much identifiable and they talk, just like the way, you or I speak. he has this wonderful 'out-of-the-bed' kind of writing style, which helps him connect to the readers instantaneously. Moreover he never claims to be a gramatically correct or writing a life changing novel.So, whats the big fuss about?
Well, Critically speaking(just because some bad points needs to be written too, I am doing this) I feel its written keeping a movie script in mind, and not a novel(not that this takes away his credentials..!!). His routine love making descriptions are like "Here comes the item number of the book"..And yes I can certainly see that the sequel to '3 idiots' is already set up(Not to mention his one liners can surely draw a huge lot of 'seetis' from 1st row )
To sum it all up, its a merger of the Alpha TV with the Sun Tv, a book worth spending 95 bucks. and I would personally suggest you to grab a copy and read it at one go. But then, thats just me...
Signing off
Nirvaan
