Book Review: The Extras by Kiran Nagarkar

Author:  Kiran Nagarkar

First published in 2012 March

Pages:460

Price:INR 599

Published by: Fourth Estate

Homeshop 18

     First things first,Kiran Nagarkar's 'The Extras' is a sequel to his 1995 novel 'Eddie and Raven'. I haven't read 'E&R' still I thoroughly enjoyed it's sequel which traces the adult lives of the protagonists,Eddie Coutinho and Raven Pawar.’The Extras’ is a ‘big book’.At 488 odd pages,the novel is way too long but that doesn’t make it a boring affair.Infact I enjoyed it more than any other book which i read recently.Set in the Bombay of the 80' s,Kiran tells a touching and poignant tale of life,love & hope and asks the readers to decide:are we protagonists or are we mere 'extras' in that movie called 'life'?

     Raven is a lowly taxi driver while Eddie has grown up to become a bouncer-cum-bar tender in an illegal bar.Both of them share the dream of becoming a 'superstar',one day.Pieta,Eddie's sister is Raven's object of affection while Bellie,an anglo-indian girl is Eddie's girl friend.Though their love lives aren't reaching anywhere our 'heroes' are optimistic that one day they will be able to live the life of their dreams.'The Extras' is infact their journey to the same.

    Nagarkar's prose is humorous and packs in plenty of twists and turns at regular intervals.Pieta's 'induction' episode was something which was totally unexpected.The humour in the book is subtle (and often satirical) but succeeds in bringing a smile on to your face most of the time.Though the pace slackens intermittently Nagarkar's prose overcomes it with brilliant one-liners and satirical observations which have been sprinkled in between.

     The Extras is not a book which revolves around it's protagonists alone.The novel has got a couple of strong female characters in Pieta,Bellie and Aasman.The good thing about them is that neither of them are Bollywoodish nor do they behave as if they are from a 'Chetan Bhagat' novel.So we don't find Bellie ditching the rich,Vijendra Malaviya for her former lover nor do we get to see Aasman marrying Eddie in the end.Similarly Pieta's character is also well etched out and I firmly believe any normal girl would have behaved pretty much the same way in similar circumstances.The other notable feminine presence in the novel-Parvathy bhai,Raven's mother and violet,Eddie's mom also manage to leave a lasting impression though I was wondering where the two of them had disappeared towards the end.So is Swapnaji,the nymphomaniac who ends up infecting Eddie with a VD.

      The book has got more than half a dozen LoL moments.The scene in which Eddie's mother visits him in the hospital thinking that he has got a terminal illness,for instance is genuinely hilarious.The novel has also got a couple of sub-plots like the 'Raven-gangster(three point one)' track, the 'Eddie-Mrs Fernandez',and 'Aasman-Yakub' ones.The short essays about 'Mumbai's taxis,the band bajaa..' et al which appears in the former half and the gangster's letters to his talisman which comes in the latter half were often funny and insightful.The 'Helen-E&R' dance sequence was also good.However some of the instances in the book seemed totally unwanted.For example,a couple of sequences in the Auntie's joint,the scene in which Eddie asks Bellie to give his friend a handjob only served the purpose of increasing the length of the book.

The final Verdict: On the whole,Kiran Nagarkar's 'The Extras' is an engaging read and is one of the best books on post colonial Mumbai.I am giving four on five(4/5) for this entertaining novel.

-reviewed by nikhimenon.2012.

(please do not copy)

     

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Review Roundup: Bachelor Party

(An official poster of the Movie)

Amal Neerad is one director who has always thought that technical brilliance and gimmicks can save a poorly scripted film.Though his Big B and Anwar were somewhat watchable,Saagar Alias Jacky was a total let down.It seems he hasn't learned from his past mistakes for his highly anticipated,humongously hyped latest flick(with plenty of colour corrected ultra-slo mo shots),Bachelor Party has also got a thumbs down from the viewers and critics alike.

Veeyen of nowrunning thinks the movie is a pretty bad one.He writes..

Bachelor Party' has one of the shakiest scripts that I have seen in recent times, and by shaky, I mean the kind that is decrepit and literally falling to pieces. It features a story that could perhaps be fine material for a ten minutes (or less) short film, but with the characters moving around in real slow motion, I guess it's understandable that the film gets stretched to an odd couple of hour

Blogger,Ben also shares similar views.The movie is shoddy,he says..

The impressive promos & an array of stars will ensure a bumper opening for the film, but all of this will die out by the end of this weekend. With so much blood spattering & gun shots as if it was a videogame, it will make you cringe in your seats & makes you yearn for the exit. In short, don't even bother watching in theatre unless you are sloshed just like the protagonists!!!

Rediff review is brutal.Paresh C Palicha thinks the movie is unbearable.
Enticing visuals and humour laced with innuendoes do not make a good film as Bachelor Party, directed by Amal Neerad, proves. It's high on testosterone with a largely male cast, male fashion and style, but low on credibility.In the end, we are left with the feeling that director Amal Neerad has stretched his style of filmmaking to unbearable and disappointing levels in Bachelor Party.

The guy at yentha too thinks the same(the review seems to be as bad as the movie though!).He continues..

I said what I had to say. I might stop my friends but others can definitely give it a try. The only question that remained at the end of the movie was this - why this Kolaveri?

The movie is said to be inspired from the Hongkong Cat iii film,'Exiled' directed by Johnnie To.

-nikhimenon

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