Book reviews: 2 States (Chetan Bhagat), The Zoya Factor (Anuja Chauhan) and two more..!!

I didn't find time to even think about writing lately. The itching sensation -of posting reviews of the books I read- was bugging me. I started writing this post in January 2009, and I am completing it today.!! I thank '2 States - by Chetan Bhagat' to give me the kick I needed to complete this post and publish it. Here are the books I read in past few months that I wanted to talk about:

2 States (by Chetan Bhagat):

Must read for those who are aspiring to get married and for their parents as well. I am a big fan of Chetan's, and this book has not let me down. I completed the entire book in 2 sittings, in one night.
I am sure everyone would relate to the story of Krish and Ananya (the lead characters of the book). Chetan has effectively depicted the state of mind of a guy who loves his girlfriend, as well as his parents. He shows how difficult it can get to make both the sides happy. Same for a girl too..
I wish this book gets translated in all the languages of India ASAP.

Veronika decides to die (by Paulo Coelho):
Poulo Coelho rocks!! It is an awesome book for those who are suffering from Nervous Breakdown. If you have liked Bluffmaster, you'll definitely like this book.

The Zoya Factor (by Anuja Chauhan):
I really liked this book. You can enjoy reading this book even if you don't like cricket. It is funny, witty and romantic (did I miss anything?). In addition, it is a thick book, so you can say you've got value for your money! ;)
The critic within me doesn't wake up till I'm enjoying the book/movie. It didn't wake up while reading this book either.

The White Tiger (by Aravind Adiga):
I wonder how come this book won the Booker prize. It seems everyone who is sarcastic and pessimistic about India wins appreciation from all over the world. (Yes, the same is true for 'Slumdog Millionarie'.) The story of the book is exactly like an old hindi movie where a poor gets screwed by the rich 'Zameendar' and he kills him when he gets a chance.
I was kinda happy in the beginning of the book as the author condemned the socio-economic divide and the racism in India. I also liked his way of storytelling. But it turned out to be a disaster at the end. It couldn't have ended with a more negative note. He glorifies the criminal just like our Hindi films do. I would certainly not recommend this book!

Movie Review: Hello (Hell....Oh!!)

Disappointing - that's my first reaction to the movie which is based on the novel - One night at the call center by Chetan Bhagat. The author must have regretted giving such a good story to Atul Agnihotri. It's extremely ill-treated and annoying (most of the times). Why the hell did he turn it to a irritating-comedy?

I have read the book and liked it, but the movie is just intolerable. The book itself is so filmy that Atul Agnihotri - without applying his mind - needed to just copy it properly. It should be remade by someone more sensible.

Here are the problems I have with the movie:

Poor Casting:

• How can one imagine Sohail Khan as Vroom and Gul Panag as Priyanka. The rest is just fine (who cares about them anyways?). Sohail Khan doesn't even touch Vroom's character. Vroom is a guy who is mature and immature, angry and content, hard and soft - all at the same time.
• Dalip Tahil (as Bakshi) should have at least done some homework and should've tried looking like a manager and not like a joker - who unsuccessfully tries to make us laugh at his foolish acts.
• Coming to the important character, Priyanka. Gul Panag doesn't sound the obvious choice. She looks little to old to fit into the character of Priyanka - who looks just like a girl-next-door, but actually is a very forward, open-minded girl. Gul Panag certainly looks beautiful, but she has to learn acting.
• Amruta Arora as Radhika also doesn't sound the obvious choice. I feel, she doesn't give justice to the character. And Arbaaz also had a small role to play. It looked more like 'Khan Family' movie.
• There was no need of Suresh Menon in the movie. He just wasted time, which could have been used for some important scenes that were missed out.

Technical Mistakes:

• Throughout the movie, we can see only 7 people in the call centre, where are the others? Only at the end, we saw few people who even didn't look like call centre employees.
• The phone tapping incident also did not sound technically perfect. It's better described in the book.
  

Scene Selection: So many interesting scenes were missed out.

• The hotel scene where Priyanka fakes as an Officer (of some kinda women liberation organization, or whatever) to help a troubled lady who was being harassed by her husband and her mother-in-law. That was damn funny.
• And when Shyam finds Ganesh cheating on her ex, by googling out his photos. The movie made the character of Shyam even weaker by not giving him this scene.
  

Ill-Treatment:

• You don't have to make Bakshi look like a stupid who sits on the top just because he says "God bless America". Gimme a break, we're not fools.
• The 'confined spaces' (for those who've read the book) scene was also made funny!! Doesn't look romantic at all (rather erotic). Both were looking fool and desperate without any passion.
• And the devil scene (asking Shyam to tap the phone) was also stretched beyond my limits. I felt there was no editor of the movie at times.
• The songs appeared from nowhere. There was no need of a song, again, that time could've been utilized. Song sets were looking very old-fashioned, and I didn't even find the music so happening.
• Any act didn't look natural, I couldn't involve myself into the scenes at any given time during the movie. I wish there were at-least few scenes that would make me feel good about the movie.
  

I can write more, but I'm feeling tired of criticizing. So, final words: All-in-all - a 'thumbs down'. Please be careful while giving your stories Chetan. This is a humble request from all your book-lovers. And I'm sure Atul Agnihotri learns from his mistakes.