Friday, June 1, 2012

Book Review: How About A Sin Tonight? - Novoneel Chakraborty


What happens when you come across five different people simultaneously? Five very different people. They intrigue you. They attract you, and you feel like knowing them more and more. Once you get introduced to them, you feel like knowing about their past and how they became the person they are at present. Well, you then go on a journey. A long one. You find about the people, understand their lives, comprehend the consequences of the decisions they made and why, feel them around you, and whatnot! When you are done living their lives, you feel a change in you. A big one.

That’s what How About A Sin Tonight? does to you.

Meet Shahraan Ali Bakshi – The Superstar! The guy who rules the hearts and whatnot of girls. The inspiration for all the wannabe actors.  The legend having an innocent but twisted past.

Meet Kaash Sehgal – The upcoming Star! The guy who rose to fame with a critically acclaimed movie. The playboy. The obsessive lover. The mystery.

Meet Nishani Rai – The Star kid!  The diva having blood composed of only one thing – vengeance at any cost. The obsessive hater.

Meet Reva Gupta – The quintessential Icon! The girl with nothing but success in her mind. The girl who knows the best way to grab every opportunity. The confused lover.

Meet Neev Dixit – The Heartthrob! The guy with confused dreams. The seen-it-all and did-it-all guy. The twisted lover.

                                                Love took them. Everywhere.

They all are connected with each other. In some way or the other.

A new movie brings them all together.  They have a past and they have a history among them. What follows is the drama that is sure to move you and will leave you with a lot of questions in your heart and mind.

Novoneel Chakraborty, of A Thing Beyond Forever & That Kiss In The Rain fame, has grown up. In every sense.  Be it writing style, be it the theme, be it the philosophy, be it the characterization or… be it age!

The best thing about it him is he doesn’t feel burdened while writing, he does what he wants. His trademark being the questions raised on the conventions everybody follows blindly and his way of seeing each and everything with a different perspective. That makes him stand out. He will make you feel his characters, he will make you ponder. His hard work is visible in each and every line. You will feel amazed by his knack of presenting things, which you come across everyday and ignore unintentionally, in a manner you never knew existed.

Well, the only downside I came across was Neev’s and Reva’s story. May be for me it was too complex or maybe it was too hard for me to believe their chemistry. But then the story which does not make you challenge the story itself, is never a good story. Also, for some it maybe a downside – you cannot finish this by brewing the pages. You just cannot.
The book demands full attention and concentration. You need to prepare yourself, for the questions and ideologies raised by the characters are sure to touch you somewhere at some point.

All in all, to conclude, How About A Sin Tonight? is basically a character driven novel, in which you don’t have to search for the story or the plot or the thrill or suspense or whatever. You just need to follow the characters to wherever they take you, and believe me, the journey is bound to change you. In one way or more.

Pros: The characters, the writing, the conventional things we do or follow have been questioned, the ideologies and Love!

Cons: Too many characters.

Overall: 4.5/5