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

Book Review: A Thing Beyond Forever - Novoneel Chakraborty

What is love? This is the question that has been a part of innumerable discussions, has been a basic plot of thousands of movies and main theme of thousands of books. Even though, many go numb if this question is asked to them. Reason is simple; noone can exactly define it in words. For every individual, the meaning varies from A to Z. And mind you, no one is wrong in defining it. Then the next question arises; what is universal definition of love? ‘A Thing beyond Forever’ debut novel of Novoneel Chakraborty talks about the same.

Dr. Radhika Sharma: For a world outside, is an arrogant woman. But from inside? Well, she is an extremely sensitive girl trying to forget her first love and move on.

A regular day it was, everything was going normally until one young patient poked the sensitive Radhika inside the arrogant Dr. Radhika Sharma. Lost in the vagaries of life, she starts reading the diary written by the guy she loved. She loved him more than anyone could ever love anyone. It did not last long; but then reward for every true love is not love. As she finishes reading the diary, she finds herself facing the situation; which no one could ever term it logical. Was she going mad or was it just the coincidence or is love really a thing beyond forever? Reading the book is the better way to get the answers to these questions.

First off, this is not an easy book to read. If you think you can get off by breezing through the pages while sipping your tea/coffee then you’re wrong. This book demands concentration and introspection in every page. There are a lot of questions raised by the author on life and love via characters that can certainly give you goosebumps and amaze you. Some are answered and some are left on the readers’ answer cultivating powers.

The character, Radhika, is very strong. Very, very strong. You can’t help but praise her even after reading minute details of her character and her love. The way she handles all the situations as a teen ager and as a grown up woman amazes you. Her love, (for the name of her love, consult the book) who has a simple and a very sweet character makes you fall in love with him. He makes you smile; he makes you cry. You do what he makes you to do.

The book, also, generates an urge inside of you to start writing a diary and create journals. The way story proceeds via the journal entries is very fresh. You feel like finishing the book as soon as possible and start writing down your daily events onto one.

Writing style is remarkable. The writer manages to make you smile and make you cry at his will. He has handled the emotions of the characters well. Very well, I mean. Diction is astoundingly brilliant and appropriate.

The only thing which may not go down well after you’re done with the story is the credibility of the events that happen in the book. I mean, on one hand the questions and answers on life and love put up by the author are real and you can easily relate with them and on the other hand the events which occur in the story may be categorized as unreal by some, illogical by some and awesome by the rest.

All in all, I believe, Novoneel Chakraborty is the writer to watch out for. He writes differently and thinks differently. He might confuse those who are into ‘fun books’ but for those looking for some quality read, his books are must, despite of some ignorable shortcomings (Mind you, he is not very old in the field of literature. Give him some time.)

Pros: Extremely brilliant story, Author’s natural flair with the writing, Radhika Sharma, superb philosophy, LOVE!

Cons: Many may question about the credibility of a few events and about the ending.

Overall: Must Read! 4/5

Book Review: That Kiss in The Rain - Novoneel Chakraborty

Which is better, or in other words what is ethically true: Making love with someone you love or loving someone you make love with? Novoneel Chakraborty’s second novel: “That Kiss In The Rain…Love is the weather of Life” talks about the same. A lot has been said and discussed about love various times in many books. Why would anyone read ‘That Kiss in The Rain’ when the name itself depicts romance?

Pallavi:

An airhostess by profession and rich spoilt brat by nature. Believe in the statement: “Nothing is impossible”, follows the statement, “Pallavi can only lose in one case, when she wants to’. Truly loves her childhood crush ‘Dino’ and believes he was her first and last 'love'.

Swadha:

A simple girl and the most important character in the book. Source of answers to all the questions by women of all ages. On a never ending quest of finding her true love.

….And then they met him, exactly when they shouldn’t have.

Haasil:

An amnesiac cuz of major accident. Entrepreneur by profession. Widower.  

The story begins with the disclosure of Haasil’s accident revealing he has lost his wife in a major accident. He tries to recover from the accident while we learn about Pallavi and Swadha. How their childhood was spent describing the details which led to their character of their adult life. Nitin, Haasil’s friend, tries not to reveal the secret of Palki’s(Haasil’s wife) death to him with providing excuses of her not being with him at this sensitive stage. After a few events Pallavi and Swadha come into Haasil’s life to make it smooth (or more complicated, perhaps). What happens next? Haasil gets whom? Pallavi? Swadha? Or what will happen if and when he will come to know about his wife’s death? Read the book for the answers.

Novoneel’s way of storytelling is tremendously good. The dribbling between the character sketches was done in a perfect manner. Detailing of characters was superb. If these characters were real, you would be able to recognize them if came across. Not an exaggeration.

The best thing about the story is the soul. The feelings and sentiments of Haasil are described in such a way that you pray for him to get Palki back! Why is this book different than other romantic novels? Cuz it deals with the quest of true love, in a mature way. The three main characters are in search of true love. Haasil, just wants his wife back. Swadha wants his boss to reciprocate as she loves him genuinely. Pallavi wants his childhood love, Dino, back. To know how all these stories are connected, you just need to order a copy online or grab one from the nearest bookstore. The only drawback in the story, which I personally felt, was the ending. It was a little abrupt. Many would disagree, but this is my personal opinion. It could've been perfect. Nevertheless, the book was a great read!

Again, a few grammatical and printing mistakes I did come across and I also know they can be very easily ignored.

All in all, a great book for all romance lovers and for all those who never tried reading about love or hated it.

Pros: Fantastic theme, Interesting Characters, Pallavi’s attitude, Italicized lines, nice storyline, twists and LOVE!

Cons: Ending.

Overall: Must Read. 4/5