Ok now I loved five point someone and absolutely loved 3 idiots as well, but the thing I can’t understand is that why is Chetan Bhagat (CB) crying so much. He keeps saying he had no clue in the scripting stage so then why does he want credit for it. Didn’t he sell the book rights to them so then legally all Vinod Chopra Films has to do is put based on FPS in the credits which they did but i guess it hurt CBs ego that they didn’t put it in the opening credits. He wasn’t involved in the story or screenplay so asking for his name there just seems wrong. I mean would shakespeare or jane austen want their names in the credits of the story and screenplay of the millions of movies that are made on their works. 

According to CB they’ve taken 70% of his book but then they have changed the remaining 30%. I mean people have made devdas so many times in this country and kept 90% intact but sarat chandra doesn’t get story and screenplay credit for it. I think it’s just that CBs ego has been hurt cause they didn’t involve him in the story or screenplay process and also put his name in the end credits. 

Stop crying and grow up.

Ugly controversy broke out between Chetan Bhagat, author of Five Point Someone and the makers of 3 idiots. It’s over the placement of Chetan’s name on the credit list and the originality of the script. There has been back and forth comments from both the sides, those who have read the book and seen the movie and the media. Unfortunately, I have not seen the movie, but read the book hence I cannot make any comments on the issue.

I follow Chetan on the micro blogging site Twitter, where he has posted a link to his blog. A post in his blog successfully validates his claims that the movie was more of an adaptation of his novel than an inspiration. After reading the post, I knew one thing Chetan Bhagat can survive in Bollywood. He ends his post by saying this,

“Like I said, I don’t need anything. Even if I have no more movies made on my stories or nobody wants to read my books and columns, I’ll happily join ISKCON and dedicate my life to Krishna. But I will not shy away from the truth – ever.”

Here is a link to Chetan’s blog.

I was really feeling sorry for the guy until I read this quote on ibnlive by Vidhu Vinod Chopra saying,

“He (Chetan Bhagat) was promised a bonus if the film becomes a hit, and it was given to him even before the film released. You are giving fame to a man like that. When a film becomes a hit, a lot of people come out to share credit.”

I agree that the ‘Based on the Novel’ credit should have been introduced in the beginning as hardly anyone sits through the end credits of the movie. I fail to understand the Indian mentality of never sitting through the end credits of a movie. As soon as the end credits rolls, everyone in the theatre is standing up. When the audience has been sitting for two and a half hour, what do they lose by remaining seated for another two minutes?

I learnt the importance of being seated while the credit rolls during my college days in Manipal. I always impart that knowledge with anyone I go to the movies. Very disrespectful to leave or stand up when the credit rolls. They are the guys responsible for the movie and being seated is your way of acknowledging their work. I must mention Farah Khan’s approach to credits. She makes interesting credit rolls for all her movies. Her end credit has a cameo of everyone in the unit including the spot boys.

Next time you are watching a movie, make sure you remain seated through the credit rolls, even if the entire theater is standing up. Absolutely necessary to acknowledge the people who have made it. Incase you are rolling your eyes saying,

“Ya! rite, imagine the torture inflicted by Kambhakkat Ishq or What’s Your Rashee?”

I would say,

“Didn’t the trailer warn you about the impending misery.”

With its basic plot derived from a best selling Indian book, director Raju Hirani couldn’t have asked for more. This man with brains is real smart. And combining himself with producer Vidhu Chopra is an icing on the cake. The duo have in the very recent past delivered two of the biggest hits Indian cinema has seen. An apt title coupled with some fine actors was enough to pull the crowds even more.

As was with the book (read Five Point Someone) the movie revolves around three main characters – Ranchoddas Chanchad aka Rancho (Aamir Khan), Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Sharman). The movie begins about 10 years after the characters have finished their engineering. I can relate to their sorrow. I know how it is to become an engineer. The lead in the movie Rancho is lost somewhere and even after 10 years the other two friends do not know of his whereabouts. For a reason they set off to Shimla to search him. Shimla has been very beautifully captured. On their way to Shimla we have a flashback.

Cut to Imperial College of Engineering. Headed by a relentless dean played by Boman Irani (Viru Sahastrabudhhe – Virus), this college is where it all begins. The college flashback sequence takes you through some hilarious scenes. Most notable one being the balatkar speech made by this character Chatur Ramalingam (Omi). This newcomer playing Chatur is promising and makes an impact. Even Raju’s poverty and his paralysed father provide for a couple of laughs. Before we are forced to take a break for pop-corns we are left with a question that builds the other side of interval. Don’t go for this movie expecting the book to be replicated because you will be majorly surprised. Here we have suspense too, and you do not want me to reveal it.

As for me, the three lead characters with an engineering college are the only main things that have been borrowed from the book. A couple of other things like hospitalising Raju, Raju’s poor family remind you of the novel. Not to forget Bhagat never married his girlfriend from this book. Sob sob.

"scooter has more footage !"

Second half again juggles between present day and flashback. The two friends are still in search of their buddy Rancho and along the way they pick up his girlfriend Pia (Kareena) who was getting married on the same day. I knew this would happen. Anyways talking about Kareena she has been wasted as a pre-medical student who happens to be the dean’s daughter and falls for Rancho. You want to see more of her but are let down. How they end up finding Rancho brings us to the predictable climax.

Talking about the actors in the movie, as is known anything said about Aamir is always less because this perfectionist can play anyone or for that matter anything. He can convince you by playing a boulder. Because emotions talk. His role as Rancho takes you to his Dil Chahta Hai days where he played a 20-something, just that this time he looks younger ! Madhavan and Sharman have done their bits. They couldn’t have been better. As for Kareena we could have done without her. All the other vital roles have been played convincingly by polished actors, be it Boman playing the dean, Parikshit Sahni playing Farhan’s father or Mona Singh playing Pia’s sis.

Other important aspects for me include the music, lyrics and background score. Shantanu Moitra binds the scenes together but he has delivered better. His music is well complimented by Swanand Kirkire’s simple and sensible lyrics.

the idiots

But watching Hirani’s third movie will leave you with the same kind of feeling as was with his first two films because when it comes to the emotional scenes its signature Hirani. His films always have some new concept which he tries to repeat throughout the movie so that the audience remembers that once they are out of the cinema hall. The attempt to popularise jaadu ki jhappi through his debut did work as was with gandhigiri through his second movie, this time around it is all izz well. The philosophy is, no matter how fucked you are do not worry because all izz well.

And does the movie live up to all the expectations. Yes, it somewhat does. The 3 Idiots do end up charming you. Watch the movie for some good wholesome entertainment.

OMG!!! There is a huge problem. The seniors are ragging the juniors.
“Jahanpanah, tussi great ho.”
Wait a minute. Who is this? It is Ranchoddas Chanchad. Our saviour. He is here to save us all from the evil of the seniors. Yippeeeee!!!
The evil senior says he will count till 10 before he pees on Rancho’s door. Rancho, being a superhero, creates a counter-attack. A spoon connected to the electricity of the room (the spoon, etc. conveniently available and all the work withtin a 10 count) and places it at the exact position where the evil senior is peeing. One beautiful truth in this world is that evil is always dumb. Same is the case with the senior. So what does he do? He looks at the spoon, takes aim and pees exactly on it.

This is the opening scene of the flashback in the idiotic movie, 3 idiots. For the sake of those of you who are yet to watch the movie, I will not reveal the more idiotic opening scene of the actual movie. The entire movie is full of similar lame, supposed-to-be funny sequences with a bit of seriousness here and there. The director, the great Rajkumar Hirani, has evidently not done justice to the theme of the movie which is supposedly the criticism of the education system. As usual, Hirani runs haywire after the first half of the movie. Dont get me wrong. The movie is definitely funny, fast-paced and entertaining. But, putting it in Chetan Bhagat’s words, the ‘bollywoodisation’ of the book has diluted the very essence on which the book was based.

The acting is commendable inspite of the movie’s flaws. Aamir Khan is sensational like in every other movie. Honestly, I feel disappointed that I cannot watch more than one movie of his every year. Sharman and Madhavan, even though, I felt, they had been kind of neglected, were pretty good as well. And the movie literally stands on Boman Irani. But, as far as I am concerned it is a big time directorial disaster. Kareena Kapoor’s character is nowhere significant and has been poorly portrayed.

Five Point Someone was a fast paced entertainer with some unrealistic incidents. 3 Idiots is a fast paced entertainer full of unrealistic and non-sensical incidents. If you have watched the movie and loved the delivery scene, I wouldnt hesitate to say “Jahanpanah, tussi great ho.” Seriously, what was HiBrani thinking when he wrote it. It is a movie and its main aim is to entertain the viewers. Accepted. But, wandering to such enormous heights to demonstrate the power of Rancho, the superhero? And after doing such scenes, he starts crying that his film was not selected as India’s entry to the Oscars.

Finally, the movie is a must watch, atleast for its hilarity. But, Five Point Someone is a better entertainer in every possible way, be it humour, thrill, drama or logic.

Best Scene: Silencer’s speech- I wonder how he acted it out without laughing.

Final Verdict: Decent but disappointing.

My rating: 3/5.

P.S: Those of you who kiss Rajkumar Hirani’s ass for making this ‘amazing’ movie, please go and get checked if your brain is intact.

On Thursday, the most awaited movie of the year “3 idiots” was released. I had liked Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”,when I read it in Engineering Final Year, but somehow, after reading “One night at call center”, I didn’t want to read another one by this writer.  I would not have had high expectations from the Bollywood adaptation of FPS, but Hirani and Aamir’s names made sure that I was eagerly waiting for this movie. So I made use of the vacation time and went for the movie right on the day of its release.

To begin, I’d like to address a few comparisons:

• FPS: Yes, “3 idiots” is loosely based on FPS. But very, very loosely. Except for a few sequences, Hirani could have just made the movie w/o crediting Bhagat (not that I am suggesting this) and it could have gone almost unnoticed. Which one is better? FPS covers college-life in more details, but overall, 3i is much better.
• Aamir’s earlier movies: A story of friends automatically brings comparisons with DCH and RDB, while attacking the education-system and parents’ attitude makes you recall TZP (in parts). But, a comparison with any of these three isn’t good for any movie. 3i doesn’t even come close.
• Munnabhai series: No, the comparison is not just because of Hirani-Vidhu combo.  It is the right combination of message, emotions and comedy that the movie shares with Munnabhai –I & II. But, on all three elements, I’d rate 3i lower than at least Munnabhai-I.

But still, “3 idiots” is certainly one of the best movies released in 2009. Especially, if you have ever lived a hostel-life (specifically, an engineering college hostel life), you can easily relate to many things. The ragging scene ( I was lucky to escape most of that), millimeter (We had an equivalent “Chhotu” in our hostel), the technically-named pups: kilobyte, Gigabyte (We had “Floppy”!!) the no-change attitude of most professors: all this and more reminded me of my days at MNNIT. I also liked the jabs that the movie took at our education-system, the rat-race mentality and “What will the neighbors say?” attitude of the parents. I hope that movies like this one and TZP make parents think twice before forcing their wishes on their kids. The acting is top class: Aamir is beyond any comments, but even Madhwan and Sharman were flawless. And like in all his other movies, Hirani plays at will with the audience emotions: making us cry and laugh whenever he wants.

However, there are some things in the movie, which could have been done a bit better. Just after the intermission, I guess the movie goes too bollywoodish: the story becomes a bit less believable. I won’t disclose the post- intermission twist, but another thing that’s less believable is the fact that Rancho (Aamir’s character) goes on to top every exam. Now, anyone, who knows our education system, knows that a Rancho can’t succeed in reality, not in the exams I mean.  I would have preferred him to barely pass the exams (maybe flunk a couple) and then, go on to succeed in the real world. (Remember Rancho’s book equivalent Ryan?)

Also, I am not sure whether the main characters (other than Rancho) were developed sufficiently in the storyline. Okay, Raju (Sharman) is a God-fearing middle class Indian, while Farhan (Madhvan) loves photography. What else? We never really get to know them. If you’re not convinced, compare and contrast this with DCH, which was no doubt Aamir’s movie too, but all three major characters were developed so strongly that most viewers would relate to at least one of them. (And that’s where I feel that the book scores over the movie.)

And the last complaint that I have with the movie is the same one that I had from the book: I think that Raju’s background (Alok’s in FPS) could have been treated with more dignity. I think that there is a big section from the Indian lower middle class, for which good education of one of the kids, serves as the way out to resolve the family’s financial worries. Hirani could have avoided making fun of this segment at every possible opportunity. It made me laugh at times, but still, somewhere it pinched.

BTW, this review would be incomplete without commenting on the music. I think that standalone, the music could have been classified as “nothing great!”, but the way the songs fit in with the story, makes them more powerful. I can easily imagine “Aal is well!!” to be a college-anthem these days all over India. “Zoobi doobi”  looked a bit out of place in the movie, while “Badal Awara” was likable to listen to (Somehow, the music appeared to be familiar; is it “inspired” by some other Hindi song?)  Even if you don’t like the song for the music or lyrics, you’ll certainly like it for the beautiful visuals of the Himachal. The song that I liked best in the movie was “Give me some sunshine!!”  It’s difficult not to be moved by the lyrics. Specifically, the lines “Give me some sunshine, Give me some rain, Give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again!!” are just too good. But surprisingly , the song that was echoing in my mind when I woke up the next day, was the one which I didn’t notice that I liked that much in the movie: “Jaane nahin denge tujhe!”.  I don’t remember such an intense song from Sonu Nigam, since “Tanhayee!!”  (which, BTW, is one of my all time favs).  I have been listening to these two on repeat mode since I came back from the movie. BTW, after listening to the lyrics of all the songs, I was almost sure that this is Prasoon Joshi’s work. (Did anyone else feel the same way?) Anyways, good work by Swanand Kirkire..

Well, as I look back at what I have written, it seems I have written more negatives than positives. This doesn’t mean that I didn’t like the movie. On the contrary, I really liked it, but wanted to point out a few issues that I had with the movie. (And I know that not many share my viewpoint.) I could have easily ignored these, but we expect perfection from every Aamir Khan movie and as he himself said in DCH: “Perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai”. Ignoring these minor negatives,  I really enjoyed the movie. Much more than what my complaints above suggest!!

My rating: 7.5/10

PS: Strangely, the imdb page for the movie is not up-to-date. Not only one of the character’s name (Sharman’s character name is shown as Hari instead of Raju) is wrong , but it’s also missing a very important character of Chatur. Last status update was on 28 September 2009.

My hindi is not so good..actually very bad..then why did i watch 3 idiots?? its all because of Chetan Bhagat. I’m a big fan of his five point someone and when i heard this movie was inspired from tat, i made up my mind to watch it..a movie made of a book generally is close to crap..except for the lord of the rings series n other few..but this movie never disappointed and was better than the story in a few places..but with a hell lotta changes..everything was perfect from the opening till the end..i thought how ll it be to see aamir as a college student..but then being a perfectionist, he found the answer..cast everyone who looked older than him.. even kareena..(she looks a lot older than aamir) his introduction scene was hilarious and he held tat charisma till the end..apart from the 3 idiots, the character ’silencer’ deserves a special mention..he was great..the whole movie was a laughter riot.. u cant stop laughin..tat too the teacher’s day scene and the scene in climax where two of em throw the keys at the same time..i cant spill out the suspense.. the way they showed raju s family as in a black and white movie added up to the already good camera work..give me some sunshine song was awesome.. ( i didn understand the other songs still music was good)  overall a great movie..worth the watch..they say the one who laughs last didn understand the joke..tat happened to me a few times..still i laughed my *** off..shows how good the movie is..to say in a single line, ALL IZZ WELL..

Smile, laugh and cry with these idiots…

3 Idiots is easily one of the finest films in the last few years and what makes it special is its unabashedly commercial style. It is a film that everyone would like, just like Manmohan Desai’s films that made us laugh, cry, sing and dance, all in one go. Despite being a paisa-vasool entertainer, the film also carries a message – a message about our education system and the rat race we all are a part of. With this film, the director, Rajkumar Hirani has got a hat-trick of relevant yet commercially successful cinema; the first two being Munnabhai MBBS, which was a comment on the medical profession and Lage Raho Munnabhai that made Gandhi cool.

Loosely based on Chetan Bhagat’s best-selling novel, Five Point Someone, 3 Idiots is about three engineering students and their tryst with the archaic education system. While the issues raised in the film are serious, the treatment is extremely fun without losing the message. The film is hilarious for most parts but also brings tears in your eyes at one point. Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijit Joshi’s script is the real winner here; of course credit also goes to Chetan who came up with the idea and wrote the book.

Aamir Khan (Rancho), R Madhavan (Farhan) and Sharman Joshi (Raju) play students at Imperial College of Engineering, a fictitious institution that is supposed to be the best in the country. The villain in their life is the director of their college, Viru Sahastrabuddhe aka Virus (Boman Irani) who thinks life is a race and there is no place for number 2. Kareena Kapoor as Virus’ daughter, Pia adds the romantic angle to the film while Farhan and Raju’s family add the melodrama. Actually, Raju’s family adds more comic element than melodrama, do watch out for them. All actors have done a fantastic job in the film and are convincing as college kids despite the actual age difference. While the film focuses a lot on Aamir’s character; Boman Irani and Sharman Joshi shine with their stellar performances.

Technically also, the film is perfect with fine editing by Rajkumar Hirani and cinematography by C. K. Muraleedharan. What disappoints a bit is the music (Shantanu Moitra), which is not exactly memorable but it does sit well with the situations in the film.

Apart from all the masala in the film, what works well for 3 Idiots is the fact that it is so relatable and youth centric, the largest demography in India… from ragging to nagging parents; drinking with buddies to the stress brought by exams; 3 Idiots borrows heavily from the real life and presents it in a light hearted manner. Go watch it with your friends, family, teachers or whoever you can catch hold of… you’d regret if you miss this one.

My Rating: * * * * ½ Four and a half stars (on five)

- Shrey Khetarpal

I celebrated Christmas by watching Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots – a movie I had been looking forward to; not because it is based on Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone but because it was a Rajkumar Hirani movie. Here is my review of probably the most anticipated movie of the year, without any spoilers.

The story :- After few years since their graduation, college mates Farhan (R Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) get to know the whereabouts of their missing friend Rancho (Aamir Khan). As they set out to find him, narration starts with flashbacks to the time when Aamir , Sharman and Madhavan were students in the Imperial College of Engineering and Boman Irani was the Director of the college. Just like in Munnabhai where its Sanjay Dutt vs Dean and Medical system, here Aamir takes on the Director and the Education system. Along with the capers of the 3 friends, academic issues like  parental pressure, student suicides, the traditional pattern of imparting of theoretical knowledge are also included in the story.

Since I have not read the book I won’t compare as to how much is the movie faithful to the book.

The actors :- Aamir has managed to look quite young. His gait and his expressions portray a student quite well. But the six pack does not match a 19-20 year old guy’s body. But yes he has acted quite good and he overshadows all the other characters. Sharman and Madhavan have done good job too as supporting actors. Thankfully, Kareena Kapoor (Aamir’s love interest) is there only for brief moments and has done a decent job. But as usual Boman Irani is perfect in his portrayal of the strict and cruel Director.

The movie :- The movie’s starting scene reminded me of Dil Chahta Hai’s starting scene. The screenplay shuttles between trying to be a laugh riot and trying to make a point. At times there is just too much of the impossibilities of Bollywood masala but then it IS a Bollywood movie. Along with outrageously hilarious scenes, here are some emotional moments too. But there are no moments where one has to cringe while watching the movie with family. All the scenes have been done tactfully. As for the male nudity, one expected that since ragging is an integral part of any engineering story Some of the gags and jokes were old ones but still induced laughter. And some of the  lines are here to stay

One can draw several parallels with Hirani’s first movie Munnabhai M.B.B.S. For example this time he introduces the philosophy of ‘Aal izz well’ to give courage to the heart to bear difficulties.

The movies fails a bit in the music category. None of the songs, except All Izz Well, make an impact.I mean the music is good but nothing memorable.

Cinematography and editing is good. Still the movie could have been a bit shorter in length. The second half seems to drag a bit.

The characters seemed to be of Mechanical branch but somehow the screenplay and dialogues talked about machines which comes under Electrical Engineering. The movie’s target audience seems to be the youth and their parents as well. I don’t know about the parents but the youth, the students and especially engineering ones will enjoy the movie a lot.

My expectations from a movie are simple – to get entertained and to get my money’s worth. And I believe Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani have delivered the most entertaining movie of the year.

My rating – 4/5

Love marriages around the world are simple:
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.
In India, there are a few more steps:
Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl’s family has to love boy. Boy’s family has to love girl.
Girl’s Family has to love Boy’s Family. Boy’s family has to love girl’s family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it?

From the author of blockbusters Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern India.

Download : 2 States by Chetan Bhagat

It’s finally here, finally happening. Months of scripting, marketing, homework and we’ve ready to launch Five Point Someone. BIG!

The National tour is the single biggest theater event in India and will happen between Jan-April 2010

based on Chetan Bhagat’s best selling novel
produced, adapated & directed by
evam

Details out soon. Watch this space for more – rehearsal snaps, sneek peeks and interviews!

Join the facebook community here

cheers

evam

Zoobi Doobi from 3 Idiots is my new favorite. The music is so catchy and uplifting (and of course romantic too). Sonu Nigam and Shreya Goshal are absolutely awesome. I feel that the song wouldn’t have been so appealing if not for them.
Listen to it here:

I even liked the picturization. The theme colors – blue, pink and white – are very soothing. In the video, I couldn’t help notice how old Amir looks (of course not more than his age). I’ll definitely find it a bit difficult to see Amir as a 20 year old IIT student in the movie. Also Kareena looks good. I never like her, but these days I’m noticing that she has grown really beautiful. Is it the magic of love? Can be. But I like to believe that it’s age. In my opinion, women look their best in their late twenties. (Some say that 30 is their pinnacle point.)

I remember enjoying reading Five Point Someone (on which 3Idiots is based on) two years ago and very much look forward to watch the movie. Even though there were some stupid scenes, overall it’s by far the best book by Chetan Bhagat. Zoobi Doobi reminded me of the chemistry between Hari and Neha in the novel.

Whatever may be the literary value of chetan’s books, he sure is making India read like never before. One reason might be because he usually chooses the subjects and characters that the current youth can immediately relate to. Anyways, I hope he writes better books in future.

The energy and magic in Zoobi Doobi fills me with joy and excitement. The song transports me to my adolescent days, as long as it lasts.

ચેતન ભગત… કદાચ નામ સાંભળેલું છે એવું લાગે નહીં? જે લોકો વાંચનનો શોખ ધરાવે છે એમના માટે આ નામ નવું નહીં જ હોય. ચેતન ભગત એક ભારતીય લેખક છે અને અત્યાર સુધી એમણે ચાર બુક લખી છે અને ચારે ચાર બુક ચાર્ટ ટોપર્સ છે. હમણાં હું સિંગાપોરમાં એકલો જ હતો એટલે મને મારા વાંચનના પ્રેમને ઉજાગર કરવાની ઇચ્છા થઇ. મારું નસીબ સારુ છે કે વૈવિધ્ય સભર વાંચન માટે સિંગાપોરમાં નેશનલ લાયબ્રેરી ઘરની પાસે જ છે. શું વાંચવું એ એક પ્રશ્ન હતો? પછી નક્કી કર્યું કે કોઇ ભારતીય લેખકની નોવેલ કે ફિક્શન બુક વાંચવી. લાયબ્રેરીમાં શોધતા શોધતા મારી નજર ચેતન ભગતની “One night @call centre” બુક પર પડી. આ બુક વિશે મેં પહેલા વખાણ સાંભળ્યા હતા એટલે થયું ચલો આ બુક વાંચીએ.

ઘરે આવી રાત્રે બુક હાથમાં લીધી. પ્રસ્તાવના વાંચી અને લાગ્યું કે બુકમાં દમ છે. રાત્રે 10 વાગ્યે મેં આ બુક વાંચવાની શરૂઆત કરી અને 12:30 ક્યાં વાગી ગયા ખબર જ ના પડી. બીજા દિવસે ઓફિસ જવાનું હતું તો પણ બુક મૂકવાનું મન ના થયું. બીજા દિવસે ઓફિસેથી પાછા આવીને બીજા બધાં કામ બાજુએ મૂકીને બુક હાથમાં લીધી અને રાતના એક વાગ્યા સુધી (ખાધા વગર) વાંચીને આખી બુક પૂરી કરી દીધી. પહેલી વખત મારી જીંદગીમાં મેં કોઇ બુકને આ રીતે passionate થઇને વાંચી. કદાચ આ જાદૂ હતો ચેતન ભગતની લેખનીનો. “One night @call centre” વાર્તા છે કોલ સેન્ટરમાં કામ કરતા પાંચ પાત્રો વિશે (જેમાં બે યુવાન અને ત્રણ યુવતીઓ છે). દરેક પાત્રના જીવનમાં પોતાના પ્રોબ્લેમ છે. Life sucks આ કોમન ફિલીંગ દરેક પાત્રમાં છે. એક જ રાત્રિમાં વણાયેલી આ કથામાં આ પાંચે પાત્રો જ્યારે મુસીબતમાં હોય છે ત્યારે તેમના પર ભગવાનનો ફોન આવે છે અને જીવન જીવવાની સાચી રાહ બતાવે છે. જો કે આ બુક કોઇ સલાહ આપતી (આમ કરો, તેમ કરો) બુક નથી. શહેરી જીવન જીવતા આજની આધૂનિક પેઢીના યુવાનો કેવી અટવાયેલી મનોદશામાં જીવે છે અને એમની જીંદગીને કઇ રીતે માર્ગદર્શન આપી શકાય એ આ બુકની USP છે. ટૂંકમાં કહીએ તો લેખકે આ બુક થકી એક જ સંદેશો યુવાનોને આપવાનો પ્રયત્ન કર્યો છે કે

Be confident and don’t ever let the losers feeling sink into you.

ચેતન ભગતની લેખન શૈલી અદ્દ્ભૂત છે. ચેતન ભગતનું અંગ્રેજી લખાણ એકદમ સરળ છે અને કટાક્ષ કરવાની શૈલી અદ્દ્ભૂત છે. જ્યારે બુક હું વાંચતો હતો ત્યારે હું બુકના પાંચે પાચ પાત્રોને visualize કરી શકતો હતો જે લેખકની  ઉપલબ્ધિ જ કહેવાય. મને વાંચતી વખતે એમ જ લાગતું હતું કે આ પાત્રોને મારી જીંદગીમાં મેં ક્યારે જોયા છે, અનૂભવ્યા છે. પાત્રોની જીંદગીની સમસ્યાઓમાં મેં મારા જીવનમાં ક્યારેક અનૂભવેલી સમસ્યાઓ દેખાતી હતી. એકંદરે એકદમ પૈસા વસૂલ બુક અને must must must વાંચવા જેવી બુક. One night @call centre” વાંચી લીધી હવે શું? હું એટલો પ્રભાવિત થઇ ગયો કે નક્કી કરી નાંખ્યું કે બસ હવે ચેતન ભગતે જેટલી પણ બુક લખી છે એ બધી વાંચી લેવી. કર્યા વેબ પર ખાંખાખોળા અને શોધી કાઢ્યું કે ભગતભાઇએ ચાર બુક લખી છે. સિંગાપોર લાયબ્રેરીમાં જોયું કે આમાંથી કેટલી બુક છે મળે એમ છે લાયબ્રેરીમાં. ઘર પાસેની લાયબ્રેરીમાં કોઇ બુક હતી નહીં એટલે સિટીમાં ગયો અને સિટી લાયબ્રેરીમાંથી બીજી બુક હું લેતો આવ્યો “Five point someone”.

આ બુક ચેતન ભગત દ્વારા લખાયેલી પહેલી બુક છે. ઘરે આવીને એક બ્રેક સાથે ખાલી 8 કલાકમાં હું આખી બુક વાંચી ગયો. કોઇ બુક કે લેખક માટે આટલી દિવાનગી મેં આજ સુધી નથી અનૂભવી. "Five point someone” એ વાર્તા છે IIT માં અભ્યાસ કરવા આવેલ ત્રણ મિત્રોની, IIT ની જીંદગી વિશે, યુવાન દિલોના અરમાનો વિશે, ભણી ભણીને કંટાળેલા યુવાનો વિશેની. પ્રથમ બુક લખતા કોઇ પણ લેખક આવું અદ્દ્ભૂત લખી શકે એ મારા માટે માનવું મૂશ્કેલ છે. મને મારી કોલેજ લાઇફ અને મિત્રો યાદ આવી ગઇ. રાયન, હરી અને આલોકના પાત્રોમાં પણ ક્યાંક ને ક્યાંક હું મારી જાતને જોઇ શકતો હતો.

(ડિસેમ્બરમાં આમીરખાનની આવી રહેલી મૂવી "3 Idiots” આ બુક પર આધારિત છે. )

બુક વાંચીને મારા મગજમાં દોસ્તી અને મહોબ્બત વિશેનું આ ગીત મગજમાં રમતું થઇ ગયું. કે કે દ્વારા ગવાયેલું આ ગીત અદ્દ્ભૂત છે.

હજી બે બુક ચેતન ભગતની વાંચવાની બાકી છે કારણ કે આ બન્ને બુક સિંગાપોર લાયબ્રેરીમાં હાજર નથી. મારો એક મિત્ર અત્યારે સિંગાપોરથી ઇન્ડિયા ગયો છે એના જોડે આ બન્ને બુકો મેં મંગાવી લીધી છે. હવે આવતા અઠવાડિયા સુધી રાહ જોવાની રહી. ચેતન ભગતનો મારે એક વાત માટે આભાર માનવો રહ્યો કે એમની બુકોના લીધે હું ફરીથી વાંચતો થઇ ગયો અને એ પણ ગાંડાની જેમ

જ્યાં સુધી ચેતન ભગતની બુક ના આવે ત્યાં સુધી હું અત્યારે વાંચી રહ્યો છું "The white tiger” by Arvind Adiga. આ બુક ને બુકર પ્રાઇઝ મળ્યું છે. પૂરી બુક વાંચ્યા પછી કેવી લાગી બુક એ વિશે નોંધ કરીશ. 

(ઇમેજ : ચેતન ભગતની વેબ સાઇટ પરથી)

FIVE POINT SOMEONE

Well in the starting of the book itself it  is written, this book is not about getting into IIT or what you do in IIT….. but only things which you are not supposed to do in IIT.

Its autobiographical and is self narrative with a tone of an natural IITan. It is basicly about three escentric guys who are natrually to be when u are in IIT. But a bit more than the other book worms. The three guys are Hari , Rayan , and Alok.

Hari is balanced normal guy who does not know what exactly is life but looks into what the others say. He listens to whatever Ryan says… who is a very optimistic person whi has decided to enjoy life to the fullest. He has rich parents who do not care about him but send him dollars instead of love and affection. To talk of Alok he is a poor guy who has to earn for his parents. So three different characters.

The best thing is they come  through many hair raising incidents and still manage to pass through the IIT with placements.

I love this book because i read this book when i was in 12th and a time when we have to decide where we have to join after 12 th. It gave me a idea of how college life would be in engineering, the love and affection of room mates. Hmm basicly one of the best books written by an Indian author… I love this book……

What are 48 hours? Nothing much. Just 2 days. This is the obvious response that I expect from any normal person. And even I was such a normal person till now.

But thanks to a train journey to Chennai, I realized what 48 hours actually meant.

My organization decided to send me to Chennai for some work and I swear that the first things that came to my mind was coconuts & lungis(!) [Nothing personal here] I was excited at the prospect of going to Chennai as I had never gone so south in my life! Also, this shall help me add another city to the growing list. [Note – One of my aims of life is to visit 100 Indian cities. Read other such aims here]

And the train route which IRCTC’s site had allowed me to take, was about 2500 Kms, starting somewhere in Rajasthan, then passing through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & finally to Tamil Nadu. And though my decision of not taking my laptop with me was born out of sound reasoning like ‘why take a liability while travelling’ & ‘security’, I did realise about the graveness of my mistake, much later on.

It is very rightly said that when you don’t want to get bored, then the entire universe conspires to bore you. I had my reservation in II AC; which unluckily got upgraded to IAC. And that too in a coupe! Now, it was not me, but my fate that decided that, Dev will spend his entire journey talking to just one person who would him in the coupe, and not many like there are in IInd or IIIrdAC. And apart from Ahmedabad, there were no big stations in route to Chennai. Luckily, I grabbed this opportunity, and bought a fiction. Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States.

For those who have already read it, might recollect that a major chunk of the book is written with Chennai as the background. And this was indeed a great help to me, as I could make tentative plans about places to visit in Chennai. [Thanks Chetan...your book acted as a guide book for me].  And let me add a nano-book-review here – 2 States is much better than One Night @ Call Center & 3 Mistakes of my life. But still, not as magical as Five Point Someone. Though, I strongly recommend this book.

Only problem with the book was, that I devoured it in less than 4 hours. And I was left with nothing but magazines, some songs in mobile and an old person besides me to communicate. And I still had more than 1500 Kms still to go.

This was the point when I realised that sleep is also a means of entertainment in such a long journey. Though I don’t sleep much, I had no better options. So I slept. I slept whenever I had nothing else to do. And just imagine how frustrating it would be to have someone staring at you continuously? This act was performed by a Tamil Nadu Tourism’s poster depicting a tiger, which had huge eyes staring out of the poster all the time. It was terrible.

One night when I was about to doze off…it just came to my mind, that apart from a stupid update, I had not written a post for a long time. My blog was in a sort of dead state. Somehow, after my Desert Bike Trip post, I did not have any inspiration to write. But, as they say, out of desperation, courage is born, so is this post. In the middle of night, I started writing this post in ink and paper…

[Please don’t analyse my writing – Its universally known to be pathetic]

So, after travelling in train alone (effectively though), I did eventually realise that 48 hours is something huge. It is actually a lot of time. I don’t want to give a lecture here, but we can utilize our time in ways that are unimaginable. Time is power. Real power.

I finally did reach Chennai, after, you guessed it…48 hours on train. And frankly speaking, I have never before been so happy to see a railway station.

And after reaching the city, I travelled as much as I could. Went to Marina Beach, T. Nagar, another beach whose name I cant remember, Mahabalipuram, Kovalam beach and likes…

Below are some of the pictures which I shall share with the readers…

Marina Beach – Chennai

Mahabalipuram [Above & Below]

Mahabalipuram Beach

Kovalam (Not the one in Kerala )

And just to make it sure that I don’t have any lack of reading material, I bought some of these…

And once I finished my journey, I realized that I was not wrong in buying these

And by the way, Chennai is much more about Coconuts & lungis…its a beautiful place and a lovely city. Though language was a problem for me. But it had its own charm.

[P.S. – After Chennai, I went to Bengaluru & Ahmedabad...but I have no pictures to share from there due to reasons known to the virus which fell in love with Bengaluru & Ahmedabad pics.]

Chetan Bhagat’s last book 3 mistakes of my life had left me totally disappointed. I couldn’t even go through 2 chapters of “3 mistakes”. The book still lies in my book rack, half-read begging to be completed. But I don’t think I am in any mood to do so in the near future. One Night @ the Call Centre also was not so great compared to five point someone, the best we have had from the author till date.  It was the built up of Five point that kept me going and complete the second one.  However, thanks God, he is back in form after these two disasters.

Next to five point someone, it is absolutely hilarious and fun going through the book – fast paced, no time to blink here. ‘2 states: the story of my marriage’ picks up where ‘five point someone’ left off. It’s an against-all-odds love story about commitment and resolve. The story is told through protagonist Krish, a Punjabi boy after he falls for a Tamil girl, Ananya. The colloquial humor of Chetan’s writing is the highlight of the book.  The wit and sarcasm stand out and are worth quite a few LOL moments. 2 states is an easy read. Every Indian who watches Bollywood knows the twist in this story. Yet you must read this book once, if only to know what lovers from different communities go through at the hands of their families. How love is at mercy of societal, familial norms. How love can drive you crazy. I could totally identify with Krish’s condition when he uses another person’s cellphone to call up Ananya as she ignores all his calls  or when he can’t take Ananya’s silence any more and flies to her for a day! When the person you love rejects you it makes you do things insane! Though many have  issue  that the endings are predictable, and that the premise seems similar every time. But c’mon guys don’t you want your life to be happy…I like stories which end with happily ever after.
In short, a nice and entertaining book. Not all books are meant to be literary works with complicated plots with twisted sentences. Perfect when you want to read something light and get amused.

I had enjoyed Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”, “One Night at a Call Center” and “The Three Mistakes of My Life” immensely. So I had great expectations from his fourth and latest novel, “Two States.” The fact that it was based on a mixed community marriage was also a draw to a person who is a product of a mixed marriage herself. Not to mention that she is married to a product of an other mixed marriage.

The main character couple is endearing and real. The numerous relatives of the North Indian Punjabi side are as hilarious as the South Indian Tamil Brahmin side. Put a Tam Bam and a Panju together and there are bound to be fireworks. The disastrous first meeting of the Boy’s mother with the Girl’s family at their convocation was so funny. I was actually picturing the two groups at their antagonistic best.

I loved the way the Boy worked his charm on each family member of the Girl’s immediate family. The  early morning IIT tuition for the brother in law to be, the power point presentation for the father in law to be, the singing gig for prospective mom in law, it was all knit together so well. Really loved the way he proposed to the whole family instead of just the Girl.

Naturally the antics of the large extended Punjabi family at a wedding were funny, at the same time they were heart rendering sweet. The drunk Uncle who thought every function was a competition between the families. The Aunt who thought they were fools to refuse the “wedding gift” from the Girl’s family. The cousins who were sneaking vodka under the noses of the elders, its all so life like and real.

I felt it was rather like a good Bollywood blockbuster movie. All of us know the storyline and we still go and see the movie. That is in fact what happened with this book as well.  Highly recommended if you are looking for a light read.