The Best-Seller She Wrote- An incredibly entertaining read

The Book- The Best-Seller She Wrote

by Ravi Subramanian
Genre- Romantic thriller


I have been an avid thriller reader ever since I graduated from the Enid Blytons, the Nancy Drews & the Hardy Boys. Somehow I never got around to reading thrillers by Indian authors, just stuck to the Jeffrey Archers & the John Grishams. I got over romantic books after reading a couple of Mills & Boons novels in quick succession and never reached for the mushy stuff as an aftermath of the dull headaches they left me with. But something about Love, Betrayal, Redemption on the cover page of The Best-Seller She Wrote grabbed my attention & I jumped at the opportunity to review this one and thus my first foray into the romantic thriller genre,

The Plot

This is a story about Aditya Kapoor,  who likes his life the way it is, loving husband to Maya- his supportive & devoted wife, doting father to  a six-year-old child, a thriving career as a banker, a  passion for writing, best-selling author. Little does he know that a tiny tryst with someone is about to pull the rug  from under his feet & demolish his entire world.

At an IIM event where he's invited to deliver a talk, Aditya crosses paths with a manipulative Shreya Kaushik a young, beautiful management student from IIM. Unable to resist all the attention thrown his way he finds himself falling in love with her. An aspiring writer Shreya teases, tantalizes him and finally succeeds in drawing him into an affair. Shreya though has a hidden agenda- to get published! She leeches on to him to further her ambition to launch herself as a writer.  He gets swayed by all the attention being showered his way and is unable to see through her conniving ways. Once she's safely ensconced as his protege, she unabashedly continues to throw herself at him & machinates her way into his heart & finally into his bed making him feel young, sexy and in love again.
The book teases with passages of bold and steamy love making that would leave the reader gasping for more.
The protagonist's resemblance to  India's best-selling pulp- fiction author, Introduction of celebrities from Bollywood, mentions of IIM, the Ambanis gives the book a real feel and makes it very interesting. Somewhere in the middle the pace does slow down a bit what with all the romance going  before the story intensifies into a unputdownable thriller.

Read on to find out
What happens when  Aditya sees her for what she really is, a cold scheming social climber?
What will Maya do once she finds out about her adulterous husband?
Will Aditya be able to extricate himself  from the scalding impact of the affair that threatens not only his marriage but also his reputation as an author?

My two-bits

The book is a real page-turner. The Best-Seller She Wrote  was my very first Ravi Subramanian book and definitely won't be my last one. I'm already looking forward to reading his other thrillers.

The verdict

An incredibly entertaining read!!

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

A fantastic read (No Kidding!)

Just Kidding,.. Yours, Destiny was a book I enjoyed thoroughly. I could relate to a lot in the book be it the girl-seeing ceremony or dealing with office politics- read insecure bosses. A light read, the book holds the promise of being made into a Bollywood flick.The witty footnotes were an added unique feature.. I woke up at 6 am on a Sunday morning to finish what I started on a Saturday afternoon (happily sacrificed my weekly siesta) Needless to say it was a fun read..I'm hoping there'll be a part 2.  

Talvar- Heartwrenching...simply flawless!

Movie Review- Talvar

Talvar... the sound of the title dredges up  memories  of  one of the most controversial double murders in the recent history of India. The movie is based on the story of a 14-year-old girl Shruti Tandon, who is murdered and her parents are considered suspects. It is an effective and intelligent movie that chronicles the investigation giving you a real, humanizing insight into the events that follow. 

Irrfan Khan, as Ashwin Kumar the investigating officer determined to get to the bottom of the murder case of Shruti Tandon and their servant Khempal, is undoubtedly the star performer of the movie. Excellent casting choice, subtle yet memorable performances from the lead actors Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi  as Shruti's parents, keep you hooked on. Veteran actress Tabu makes a cameo appearance, convincing in her role as Irrfan's wife. Sohum Shah perfectly cast as Irrfan's ambitious assistant proves his mettle yet again. Even lesser known actors deliver an impressive performance. Prakash Belawadi is simply outstanding in his role as Irrfan Khan's superior. Ayesha Parveen as Shruti Tandon,  Gajraj Rao as a bumbling police inspector, Atul Kumar as the new CDI investigating officer do a good job as the supporting cast.

A mesmerizing combination of Vishal Bhardwaj's terrific writing, intellectualized screenplay & brilliant direction by Meghna Gulzar makes the movie an intense heart-wrenching masterpiece that's bound to give you goosebumps. 

Zinda hai in Rekha Bhardwaj's beautiful voice touches your soul and resonates long after the movie is over. 

The perfectly paced, the skillful narrative keeps you interested till the very end. Everything about Talvar is intensely effective leaving its audience with something to think about... Do we let our opinions get convoluted by the media carnival??? Guilty or not? You decide! Definitely a must-watch for thriller fans!

Watch the trailer of Talvar

Starring   
Irrfan Khan
Konkona Sen Sharma
Neeraj Kabi
Sohum Shah
Prakash Belawadi
Atul Kumar
Tabu
Gajraj Rao
Ayesha Parveen

Directed by Meghna Gulzar
Produced by Vineet Jain, Vishal Bhardwaj
Written by    Vishal Bhardwaj
Screenplay by    Vishal Bhardwaj

Soulful Music by Vishal Bhardwaj
Cinematography by Pankaj Kumar
Edited by A. Sreekar Prasad
Production companies- Junglee Pictures/ VB Pictures
Movie genre- Drama, thriller, crime, controversial, murder mystery
Release Date- 2nd October 2015

A Short Story for Children

I was going through my stuff and found this story I'd written for my fourth graders several years ago. This was supposed to be used for a Reading Comprehension. I would love to do more short stories for kids. Needs editing, but here goes..

A Magical Mystery

Once upon a time, there lived a small boy named Mustafa. He belonged to a poor family. His father was a farmer and his mother, a tailor. He went to a school in the village.

Mustafa was a clever boy. He was fond of magic. He would often boast to his friends that he had magical powers. His friends did not believe him.

One day a strange thing happened. The children were playing in the park. After some time they were very tired. So they sat under the shade of a huge tree. They looked at Mustafa who was sitting alone by the bank of the river. He was playing a beautiful tune on his pipe. Suddenly, he vanished!

Everyone thought he had fallen in the river and drowned. They were horrified. They started screaming for help. Some of them ran to call the villagers. The villagers came running to the river bank. One of them jumped into the river to save Mustafa.

Suddenly they heard some music. They turned around to see a boy sitting under a tree. A little girl recognized him. He was Mustafa! Everyone was delighted to see him alive! They started clapping and cheering loudly. They wondered how he had survived. All his friends were curious. They asked him, ‘Mustafa, how did you reach here?’ Mustafa was silent, he only smiled...

Did you do YOUR bit?

Why do you mourn her death now, when it’s too late? Can you bring her back? What did YOU do to prevent this from happening? What did you do to prevent any other woman from being a victim?

The other day when you were in a rush to meet your friends, didn’t you hear your neighbour abuse his wife, and kids?

Did you ring the bell and stop him?

Did you seek out the kids later and give them any courage?

Did you inform the cops when you saw the broken jaw, the black and blue scars she was trying to hide?

Did you protect your own mother when she was being abused? Cussed? Beaten up?

Didn’t you ignore the black eye of the domestic maid servant?

Did you call up an NGO?

Did you make an effort to at least find out NGOs that can help?

Did you help create awareness about domestic violence and take steps to prevent it?  

Did you DO something other than ‘sharing’ posts and RTing?

Did you do ANYTHING, except helplessly exclaiming ‘Tch, tch, what is the world coming to?’

-A victim

Goodbye, Sandpaper man!

“Let’s go on a movie date”, said he,

I’ll pick you up at eight.”

He shot me a meaningful glance.

My heart skipped a beat,

And did the lambada dance

“Finally” I thought, “we move to second base”,

And coyfully, lowered my gaze

Recoiled at what I saw

Violently I dropped my jaw

 “I’m a woman of today,” I said,

“I prefer smooth to uncouth,

Manscape over a barbarian ape!

So if you think you can seduce me

with your day-long stubble,

I’m afraid your dreams will join

that sky-high rubble.

You really want that date?

I’ll give you until eight,

Mow down your abrasive sod,

And prepare yourself 

to meet my well-spa’ed hot bod”

Later that evening:

Manscaped man showed up at the door

Manicured fingers and eyes ran a scan

Over the groomed chin I so adore

“Goodbye Sandpaper man,”

 I moved closer and whis-purred,

“Second is just a number,

Let’s just skip to the third.”

Movie tickets and the lingerie,

Lost no time in joining the floor.

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

A Short-lived Adventure!

This entry is a part of BlogAdda contests in association with Zapstore.com

I spotted a man

Hovering suspiciously beside a van,

I said, "Here's my once in a lifetime shot at adventure."

So I followed him around

Until I found,

That the poor old guy was only 

looking for his dentures!!

............................

A muted sigh,

An unshed tear,

Somebody...

Send me a cold beer

Summer 2010

56 days, 10 movies, 8 blog posts, 7 1/2 books, 3 reunions, 1 Tuesday Pick, 1 play, 1 blog meet, countless love, homecooked food, endless hours on Facebook and Twitter, a long impending end, and a new beginning...
Does my vacation have to really really end?

Headlines 2020- Facebook kills the reunions

So thanks to Facebook, Orkut and other social networking communities, I had a blast with the past. Nice to catch up with people, squeal  in excitement and at times in shock to see how your friends have turned out. And yeah, catch up with them finally after so many years.

I sometimes wonder how people managed to stay in touch before the advent of social networking sites. How effective really were alumni associations?

With all and sundry now being connected on social networking sites, you KNOW what's happening with your friends, on a daily basis. You know where they've been, you know how they look like, you know what they do, what they do for a living, relationship status, employment history, et al. How will reunions look like, 10 years from now? Will there be reunions at all? Won't social networking take the whole fun out of reunions?