The Resurgent Indian
Patriots (R.I.P.)
Author:Mukul
Deva
Publisher:Westland
Price:INR 200
Pages:286
Source:Review Copy
via blogadda.com
First Published: 2012
In the late
ninetees South Indian film directors S.Shankar and Shaji Kailas used to make
good vigilante movies.From Gentleman to Shivaji there were innumerable films in
the genre which had it’s protagonists taking on the ‘corrupt and the mighty’
almost singlehandedly using their intelligence and will power.Most of these
movies were super duper hits too at the box office .The second half of the next
decade witnessed less talented film makers trying to cash in on the same
formula with limited success(Susi Ganeshan’s Vikram starrer Kandasamy being a
case in point).Bollywood also had a good vigilante movie in ‘Rang de Basanthi’
directed by Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra which got released in the year 2009.You may
be wondering why I am writing all this while reviewing Mukul Deva’s latest work
‘Resurgent Indian Patriots’.R.I.P is the kind of work that will surely remind
you of the S.Shankar brand of good vigilante films.The book is a fast paced,
socio political thriller which packs in a lot of twists and turns at regular
intervals.
The Plot-The
K team comprises of a group of retired Army officers led by Colonel Krishna
Athawale who are fed up with the rampant corruption,nepotism and scandals
rocking the very own foundation of the country.They start knocking off the
trusted aides of the most corrupt and influential politicians one by one which
they believe will provide momentum to the ongoing anti-corruption movement led
by activist and Gandhian,’Hazarika’ and thus ensure the passing of a strong
anti corruption ‘Lokpal’ bill in the parliament at the earliest.Meanwhile there
is a rogue para commando Raghav Bhagat who is hell bent on stopping the K
team.Caught in the cross fire are Vinod Bedi,a special director of CBI,Reena
Bhagat,a news anchor and two boys,Sachin and Azaan.
The
writing-Like his earlier work Lashkar(2008,the only other work of Deva I have
read so far),R.I.P is also a page turner.The narration is pretty lucid and
interesting which helped me finish reading the book in just about 2 hours.Though
the English is pretty simple, the repetition of a couple of words and phrases
again and again is a bit of a dampener.(For instance,the six foot tall Captain
Bhagat gives ‘sardonic grins and smirks’ n number of times in the story!).A
couple of grammatical errors also have crept in which may adversely affect the overall
prospects of the book.Considering the target audience of the book and the kind
of commercial success which it aspires to attain, the usage of
simple,conversational type of language is justifiable though.
The characters-As
I have mentioned before the protagonists of the novel ,the K team(Krishna,Karan,Kashif
et al) are a group of ex-army men who are on a mission to cleanse the corrupt
system.The characters The book is more or less like a recap of the major
political events of the country in the last couple of years.The thriller has
references to almost all the major scams and scandals which shook the country
in the recent years and has even got a character,Hazarika modelled on the anti
graft crusader ‘Anna Hazare’.Most of
the other characters in the book too are ‘inspired’ by real life politicians.So
we have Prime Minister,Nirmal Khanna
with a spine as infirm as his name,Sheila Kaul,the National Democratic Congress
party president and the widow of India’s previous PM ,her son Ranvijay,the
PM-in-waiting to name a few.The backstory of
Krishna’s brother-in-law reminded me of the R.Madhavan’s track in ‘Rang
de Basanthi’.Since the story is more focused on the ‘missions’(or well planned
assassinations) which the A team carries out,the writer hasn’t bothered much to
create three dimensional characters.Except for the lead character,Colonel Krishna
Athawale the characters aren’t well etched out and at the same time the
character of the pretty news anchor Reena gets undeserved importance in the
book.
What I
liked the most about the book
1.It’s
genre- As I had mentioned earlier,I am a great fan of the ‘vigilante’ genre.R.I.P
is a well written,gripping work which remains true to it’s genre.
2.The cat
and mouse game between Krishna’s A team on one side and Raghav Bhagat’s
parallel ex-commando team and the team of cops on the other side was pretty interesting.
3.Mukul
Deva’s military background,technical know how and research ensures that no goof
ups creep in the descriptions of the ‘missions of the K team’.
What I didn’t
like-
1.The
romantic track between Krishna and Reena seemed forced and could have been done
away with it.It doesn’t quite gel with the mood of the whole book.
2.The
proceedings feel a bit jingoistic and too bollywoodish(the high jack scene and
the personal loss which Col.Krishna faces after the ‘mission’,for example) atleast
in a couple of instances.Perhaps the writer was catering to a young adult
audience!
3. Similarly,the
book reads like a newspaper at times.The 2 G scam,fodder scam,housing society
scam,Common wealth games scam all find a place in the book.Even the ‘fictional’
politicians linked to those have striking resemblance to their real-life
counterparts.Honestly wish the author had applied more imagination and skill while
writing those portions.
Verdict-On the
whole,R.I.P is no literary marvel and it neither pretends to be one but the 286
pages long book is undoubtedly pure unadulterated fun.If you love reading fast
paced vigilante thrillers,don’t hesitate to grab a copy at the
earliest.Rating-3.25/5
The
tail end- In this era of growing intolerance,it’s a miracle that a book like
R.I.P which exposes the corrupt real life politicians mercilessly hasn’t faced
any serious objections from the ruling party or it’s politicians so far!
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1 comments:
good review
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