Book Review: Revolution 2020

Chetan Bhagat and his new novel Revolution 2020

Chetan Bhagat’s latest release, Revolution 2020 has hit the stands and it’s doing quite well. Why wouldn’t it? After all he’s India’s largest selling novelist of all time perhaps. Famous for being a ‘youth writer,’ Bhagat’s earlier books have either all been adapted into movies or are on their way to be. In the midst of all this, Bhagat manages to come up, once again with a very interesting four hour read.

As seen in all his previous books, a 20 something, middle class background, struggling engineering student, like me, relates very well. So much so that the first half of the book felt like I was reading my own biography. Jokes apart, Bhagat beautifully depicts the agony of a mediocre AIEEE ranker who is too good a guy to be the boyfriend of a girl who he has clearly been dating for seven years.

Revolution 2020 is a story of two guys and a girl, a clichéd masala bollywood love triangle with a very unusual end, for a change. Set in Varanasi, Gopal, a sincere small town boy from a very humble background, narrates his story. A story about love, deceit, corruption, success and sacrifice. Aarti, the girl who Gopal is best friends with since primary school and the girl he loves, is portrayed as a confused, beautiful girl who turns Gopal down because she has never thought of Gopal in ‘that way’ and wants to be just friends, yet she somehow manages to become Raghav’s girlfriend out of the blue. Bhagat, trough Aarti, unfortunately fails to portray women any differently than he has done before. For someone like me, who has read all his books before, reading Revolution 2020 wasn’t like reading anything new. Raghav, Gopal’s friend Aarti’s boyfriend is a JEE ranker (unlike Gopal), studying in the prestigious BHU and wanting to be a journalist some day. The story revolves around the two guys differentiating between the two at different stages of life.

While Bhagat strums the right chords with the protagonist Gopal (or I would rather just call him the narrator as no one is really good or bad here), at the same time, he fails to develop the character of Raghav, who only remains the other guy in Aarti’s life. The relationship between Gopal and Aarti is depicted beautifully over a span of 7 years from cover to cover. I could feel myself mumbling under my breath at several occasions. Gopal’s journey, from a pauper to a prince or from a guy who couldn’t secure an engineering seat to a businessman who opens his own engineering college is magnetic as he accepts the political and bureaucratic system, while that of Raghav, as a struggling journalist, fighting the same system, comes across as an under-written mystery. Aarti is as confused as all female characters have been in his previous books have been and after a certain point into the book, you stop hating Aarti and start hating Bhagat for being a chauvinist. [Yes my friends it comes from me who himself is blamed of being a misogynist many a times.]

Though the name Revolution 2020 comes from Raghav’s newspaper in the book with the same name, Bhagat fails to justify the title of his book. The unexpected ending to the story is less of an open ended reality of life and more of an unfinished tale. Read it because it’s cheap and costs less than three figures but do not expect to be pleasantly surprised.

My Rating: 3/5

Frankly Speaking, I was generous with that and I would also like to give a word of advice to Chetan Bhagat: MOVE OVER IIT AND AIEEE! That might be the biggest event in your life, but life is more to that and with your fifth book at least, we expected you to give us a novel (and not a screenplay.)

The Old Adventures of the New Sherlock Holmes

Hello again! I'm back after a long time and with more masala to keep you hooked to your TV sets! Being a huge Sherlock Holmes fan since my early childhood and having read the whole Sherlock Holmes collection, I thought to myself how better can a BBC TV series be after a super stylish, tight film by Guy Ritchie? Well, surprise surprise! Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat catch me thinking on the wrong foot. While Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes would have been over a hundred years old now, this Sherlock Holmes is young, even in 2010!

Sherlock is an adaptation of Doyle's works in the 21st century and a good adaptation indeed. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Sherlock Holmes, a charismatic, highly functional,laconic consultant detective, a job that he claims, is created and performed by him alone. While Holmes shines in his new character, a guy who prefers to text (SMS) rather than make calls, the character of Dr. Watson, an ex-army doctor and Holmes' room-mate and side-kick, who writes a blog about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, fails to impress. Not only is Dr. Watson's character underwritten, but he also misses the acumen and efficacy of the original character by Doyle, despite an earnest performance by Martin Freeman.

Sherlock makes a good impression right from the moment he is introduced to Dr. Watson and the audiences, and their first conversation is as impressive as in the original work, but Watson and Holmes lack the chemistry that Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were able to create on-screen in the Guy Ritchie feature. Doyle's Inspector Lestrade of the Scotland Yard is now Detective Inspector Lestrade, but unlike the original, almost everyone hates Holmes here. The cases that Holmes works on are similar to the ones in the short stories, though little variations are very intelligently fitted in as they are set in modern times. Holmes and Watson are shown living at 221B Bakers street (the legendary address used by Doyle in his works too), as tenants in Mrs. Hudson's house, now a modern flat is missing the very famous 'rocking chair' that Holmes used to sit on while contemplating a case. A surprise element here is that of Sherlock's elder brother, Mycroft, who now occupies  high post in the British Govt. and calls himself the arch enemy of Sherlock.

Cumberbatch delivers an remarkable performance and shows deep understanding of the character. Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson is good but he does not have much to count upon with a poor script in his hands. Rupert Graves is just about manages to be OK as DI Lestrade, while Una Stubs delivers an honest performance as Mrs. Hudson, Holmes and Watson;s landlady.  The three episode season 1 of the show ends with Holmes coming face-to-face with his biggest enemy, Prof. Moriarty and is left open ended to leave the audiences thirsty for the next season scheduled to premier sometime in 2012.

The direction is spotless and the series uses the same music as that in the Guy Ritchie film and is very well woven into the plot and conducted perfectly to get the right effect to the audience. The show grows onto you like a climber vine and you just cannot shudder to even move throughout the length of the 90-odd minute running episodes. All in all, Sherlock is a must-watch; a one of a kind series that takes TV detective shows to a whole new level! A 4/5 from my side to the show and a word of immediate recommendation, specially to Sherlock Holmes fans who could't get enough of him on the Big Screen.

For More info, visit:

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1475582/

Adios!

Yours Truly!