Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan (Book Review-3.25*/5)!!!

      I don't know why but 2014 does not seem to be exciting the way the first week has been for me- slow and boring. I am such a reading freak and I ended up completing a novel in a week. Ashamed. There are some books in which I get stuck. E.g. I read Meluha in 1.5 days, Nagas in another 1.5 days but as soon as I picked up Vayuputras on the 4th consecutive day of reading this trilogy, I got stuck to it for another 2 weeks. That was the first depressing moment for me. And this has been another. Well, let's move further. I am done reading "Those Pricey Thakur Girls"- one of the most recommended novels by Crossword last year. Anuja Chauhan is known as one of the few sensible writers in the popular commercial fiction hence this has been my first attempt in reading her book. I am not fully impressed but I didn't even hate her. 

   

ABOUT THE BOOK:-

The new novel from the bestselling author of The Zoya Factor and Battle for Bittora. 

In a sprawling bungalow on New Delhi s posh Hailey Road, Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur and his wife Mamta spend their days watching anxiously over their five beautiful (but troublesome) alphabetically named daughters. 

Anjini, married but an incorrigible flirt; Binodini, very worried about her children s hissa in the family property; Chandrakanta, who eloped with a foreigner on the eve of her wedding; Eshwari, who is just a little too popular at Modern School, Barakhamba Road; and the Judge s favourite (though fathers shouldn t have favourites): the quietly fiery Debjani, champion of all the stray animals on Hailey Road, who reads the English news on DD and clashes constantly with crusading journalist Dylan Singh Shekhawat, he of shining professional credentials but tarnished personal reputation, crushingly dismissive of her state-sponsored propaganda , but always seeking her out with half-sarcastic, half-intrigued dark eyes. 

Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.

About the Author :

Anuja Chauhan wrote ads for colas, chips and chocolates for seventeen years before deciding to do something healthier for a living. She now writes novels, movie screenplays, news articles and her children's Hindi essays. Her bestselling novels The Zoya Factor and Battle for Bittora have been optioned by major Bollywood studios. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Niret Alva, two helpers who bang the doors a lot, a Lhasa Apso who thinks he is a German Shepherd, and three adolescents who give her attitude.

     

     Anuja C's writing is wonderful when she is about to crack a new twist or turn in the story otherwise it's very slow. I have heard that her previous books are in the process of getting adapted into a movie. But if I will have to talk about this very book, I would say a TV series would be a better option than going for a movie. If this story could have been shrunk in just 250 pages, it would have been really a never-to-miss-out stuff but currently, I would say, it's not a very extra-ordinary novel. In fact, it is like a snail that crawls slowly but produces gum with each step. The characters are awesomely defined, I agree. Some incidents does make you laugh and jump off your seat but still, this book lacks the fun that you expect from a book that's based on family drama. 

            The political part that's been focused in the later part of the book is something that excited me. The whole issue of Motla generated my interest. The book really starts from 250th page or so for me. Before that, it's just like water that randomly flows in any direction without knowing where it has to particularly reach. The protagonists- Debjani and Eshwari are wonderfully depicted and they would become your favorite without any great effort. It seems as if author has given her best in characterizing these two protagonists. The role of the Thakur parents are also funny and humorous. I didn't enjoy a bit that's based upon the family of Chachaji and those small kids. Even the segments where Anjini played her role seemed as an interruption in a lovable story. In the end, I would also like to applaud the designer for designing a very beautiful, attractive and exciting cover page. I will give this book 3.25/5.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!