I
have now finally finished it and it turns out to be one of those rare
unputdownable (if that word exists) book that connected so well with me. It was
tuff to put it down but I must tell you this that – it is indeed a fantastic
read – totally hooking right from the very start and with the mere mention of
Satyajit Ray (One of my favorite Directors / Writers) had got me glued to it.
Oh my god! I had no idea what it was based on other than what the title
suggested of course and as I have a habit of not reading reviews of books or
movies especially the ones I plan to read or see respectively. But as the title
suggests – if you’ve got anything to do with Music (As a hobby) especially Rock
n Roll or with Movies – you are bound to love this one. Even the references and
explanations are simply superb. I cannot claim that the writer is a friend but yes
I can certainly brag that he is indeed a Facebook friend at least and I’d been
fortunate to have couple of interactions with him on Facebook especially on our
Bookaholics group. The way the characters talk, discuss and throw off the “Rock
/ Song Lines” from so many of my favorite rock stars is amazing – if you know
what I mean? It’s totally out of this world experience and one more thing I
should mention before I miss out – it became another of those rare books which
didn’t send me fetching the dictionary as the author uses so many of those
words we speak in our daily life – two of them deserve a special mention as I
use them a million times a day – One is “Unfuckingbelievable” and second is
“Kickass”. If you’ve read the book – I am sure it’s going to put a smile on
your face and if you haven’t – time to pick up a copy and read it. Do not miss
it at any cost. Highly recommended to Movie freak friends, especially the ones
who love music too and have been in and out of love too at one point or
another.
The
Book: Story of three strangers Dipsy, Sunil and Sam who meet in a train journey
to Kolkata and hit it off so well that they become friends for life. They all
have their own separate stories to tell too and on top of that the set of
friends that they have or family members itself makes up for quite an
engrossing, hilarious, interesting, emotional, dramatic and thrilling ride too.
Dipsy gets thrown out of IIT for possessing drugs which unfortunately doesn’t belong
to him, inside he is a hardcore rockstar (Musician) who wants to make his own
band and go national or may be international in due course of time – how his
journey (And love story plus tragic family background) turns out is the rest of
the story. Sunil is a FTII pass out who wants to make it big in meaningful
cinema that too in Kolkata, how he goes through his topsy turvy ride makes up
for another fantastic story (I totally loved this one as it had so many movie
references from all over). Sam is an NRI working in the silicon valley in US of
A – who comes to India as his family wants him to settle down (read get
married), how his love marriage gets arranged is another fantastic story. There
are so many superb characters in the story that I wish I could name them all
here and even share what all they do but I guess that will be a little too much
to disclose. It’s a commendable job by author to call it a first book – he has
written it in such a wonderful way that the whole narrative was actually
running like a superb visual on the back of my mind all the time. Especially
that movie making part with Sunil at the helm of the things with a Superstar in
lead and the way Dipsy’s band finally gets made and they start recording their
songs etc – I could actually very easily visualize the whole thing as it was
happening right in front of me.
The
book also gives us quite an insight in the daily life of Kolkata –
unfortunately I’ve never been there but wasn’t that tuff to imagine. I guess
Swayam Ganguly (The Author) has fantastic knowledge of music as well as the way
he has covered the whole “Baul Music” thing is totally commendable, I had no
idea before I read his book about the same but now I know. I will call it a
brave attempt to mention the famous casting couch of our film industry in his
very first book and the references are solid – I wonder how they real people
will react when they are told of this story. Although it’s a work of fiction
but I am sure even the author won’t deny the people he has pointed out as its
too obvious who he is talking about (but it does makes the story more
interesting and keeps the reader smiling ear to ear). Also he is a big big Rock
fan and so I am – almost all of the names and songs that he has mentioned in
the books are a permanent part of my rock collection hence it made more sense
to me, some of the lines that he has quoted – I literally sanged along aloud to
which my wifey called me “crazy to have found a perfect book” with lyrics. I
can go on and on and on about this one but will end it here with a note that
you’ve got to read it big time. I am going to share it with couple of my
friends who have those things in common with me and am sure that they are going
to love it too – just the way I did. Also, I will look forward to his next
whenever that may come out.
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