There were two choices before me: Either I could watch it in the cinemas or read the book. I chose the second one because of two things. One, it would give me the private freedom to make as many movies as I want, and Two, usually books are better. I feel like I have lost this time - even before seeing the movie - not because the book is a disappointment, but because this is one of those books which really is a movie masquerading as a novel. This is really a movie script minus all the technicals. If Danny Boyle had not picked it up, surely someone in Bollywood would have. The only little surprise the author or the publisher might have had was that it was someone from hollywood.
I had no qualms about the genre of the book when I bought it. Less expectations gives you lesser disappointments. I am angry only when I am sold a second rate stuff marketed as first rate. "White tiger" was such an experience, this was not. I knew that I was reading a masala - and I knew that this wasnt a Da Vinci Code either. So I am alright.
What is my final word? Yes. This is time pass. But see the movie first. Why? Beacuse I am sure you will get the same experience for a fraction of the effort.
1 comment:
The storyline of how the protagonist knew the answers, because of many memories that are burning, cold and sweet, is simply superb. But it's the prejudiced image of India, which spreads from the portrayal of the Mumbai underbelly to the doors of the Taj, that makes the movie just another picturisation of the great Indian poverty.
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