Chetan does it again – may well be the opening sentence of many of the reviews to be written on ‘Revolution 2020’, his fifth book that was already a hit even before it hit the stands a few weeks back. It may sound cliché but, as expected, he indeed does it again in terms of striking a chord with his target-segment of readers. Ever since he has chucked his job as an investment banker, he has become a full-time author – is a fact that everybody knows(Although, of late, we have seen him in different avatars – columnist Chetan, motivational-speaker Chetan etc.). Technically, therefore, he earns his livelihood by writing and selling his books. He had to master the tricks of the trade and he, indeed, has just done that.
Before getting into the actual review on the book, let’s understand the revenue-generation model of his books. His paperbacks do business on volume but not on margin. They are always modestly priced – a fact which was almost a taboo only a few years back in respect of fictions written in English. Penguin or Harper-Collins – the oft-preferred publishers of Indian authors who wrote in English, saw to that their books always carried an ‘elitist’ price-tag. Chetan went on a rampage to break many more stereotypes –(1) He kept the price of his paperbacks even lower than the monthly issues of most of the life-style magazines.(2) He did not much indulge in any form of pseudo-intellectual preaching of ideologies. Instead he has left it to his readers to take a call as to what they should approve of when it comes to morality or ethics.(3) He told stories that most of his target-readers(who happen to be the young and not-so-young alike) can easily relate to.(4) He uses a highly toned-down yet cheek lingo as a vehicle to reach out to even those who were trained in vernacular media. Generous dosage of the f-word and a few popular Hindi swear-words further helps to establish an easy connect.(5) His stories have always touched the finishing-line with a well thought-out and a pleasant-to-accept conclusion, thereby, maintaining a steady stream of Bollywood producers knocking at his door to cut a deal in respect of movie-rights.
While compared to his earlier books, I felt that in R2020, (1) he has further scaled down the language, perhaps, to ensure an even wider reach amongst his ever-growing fan-base.(2) Wisecrack one-liners have come down in number(3) Events of the story no more took dramatic turns and twists every now and then - the way they did in ‘5 Point Someone’ or say in ‘2 states’. R2020 comes with a tag-line, ‘LOVE.CORRUPTION.AMBITION’. If that is not enough, the silhouettes on the cover show a girl hugging a guy and holding hand of another guy at the same time. Chetan surely scores a brownie-point to draw your initial attention even before you actually get started with the story. In terms of cover design, this is his best paperback so far. The story, is set in small-town India. Although Benares(the back-drop against which the story unfolds) never really assumes the role of another ‘character’, it nonetheless, has some significance to leave an overall impact. Try to replace it with any random small town of India and you surely have a problem.
The narrator of the story is Gopal who also happens to be the protagonist. His rags-to-riches tale forms the theme of the story-line. Gopal comes up in life in spite of several early set backs. In fact, he shows a classic ‘back-with-a-bang’ phenomenon. In the process, he compromises with and accommodates a corrupt system which is all-pervading in the society/country. While settling scores with Raghav, his one time friend-turned-bete noire, in an ultimate move of snatching off the latter’s girl-friend, he finally fights off his inner demons. Gopal, who started as a loser in the initial race of life, chooses to become a loser for one more time. This time, however, he himself designs his destiny. Gopal also carries a ‘middle middle-class’ value-system which comes in his rescue at the moment of his dilemma. He wanted to be a winner, at least, in his own eyes. The price, however, was huge by any standard. Sacrificing the only girl he has ever loved was no mean deed. The readers are bound to shower their sympathy with Gopal – I’m almost certain about that. The loser always wins the hearts - if not the race. Stockholm Syndrome at play? I guess.
Chetan cleverly leaves a subtle teaser for his readers. Who is the ultimate ‘role model’ - Gopal or Raghav? - is the teaser that the reader has to answer individually. Gopal was always in a self-denial mode as to how much he admired Raghav, the guy who had a single-minded resolve to change the ailing system spiked with bribery, corruption, siphoning off of public fund etc. Their ideologies clashed as they had to. But the one-sided rivalry which Gopal could really never get away from, stemmed from his desperation to win over the female whom both of them were in love with. Two ‘difficult-to-choose-one-from-the-other’ suitors pitted against one pretty young thing -’love-triangle’ always makes for an interesting plot. What say, Chetan?
Critics may find the conclusion of the story as a vague attempt at ensuring a bee-line of Bollywood-producers(who always picked up scripts that delivered a ‘poetic justice’ kind of conclusion) at Chetan’s doorstep, I would, however, prefer to view it as Chetan’s advocacy for ‘good senses prevailing at an apt moment’ phenomenon. Gopal’s moral dilemma, thus, takes the control of events that finally shape the end of the story. Since, by virtue of our very upbringing, we are more comfortable to accept one’s sacrifice as a heroic deed, the story will be well accepted is for sure. Remorse makes a man a better human being – we have been told this umpteen number of times(For the very same reason, I found Arvind Adiga’s ‘White Tiger’ a total mindless crap). Portrayal of Aarti, the femme fatale of the story, brings about a nice nostalgia of those gone-by-days when many of us were invariably smitten by the charm of a fellow pretty classmate.
Overall, it’s one more ‘unputdownable’ offering by Bhagat who knows how to keep his readers engaged and to entertain them at the same time.