So, few days back, I have completed one more Surendra Mohan Pathak’s novel named "Bhakshak" which I will rate an average fare. I read it quite fast because I was deprived of reading Hindi from quite few days, so when I got the chance I lunged at it.
So Bhakshak basically means a predator, someone who hunt someone, so is the story. It is 114th novel in Sunil Series and overall 257th from SMP. Sunil Chakraborty is a Blast reporter, and works on the cases without being ever assigned one, he just got involved as they came, has a good friend in Youth Club Owner Ramakant, One day a guy named Chirag Kasniwal met him and ask him about rules related to will/testament. He also told them that he is very much in fear, that someone will kill him, someone maybe from his neighbour’s house, and that his neighbour Nandan Rathi is a crooked man and he owns a cow who always moos and moos, and this happens intentionally, his neighbour wants him to get annoyed, and he is planning to kill him. And he wants to write his will in favour of his neighbour’s wife. Why he wants to do that, is there any connection between him and his neighbour is his wife, and whether in real his neighbour wants to kill him or it is just his imagination? To know this you have to read the novel.
So the premise looks good, and I bought it after reading the synopsis which look promising, and the story is developed nicely over 304 pages including SMP’s foreword. Even the climax and end is good. The suspense maintained is okay. But there are certain incidents which are taken with a free hand, and 304 pages are long, it could be tightly handled instead of wasting some pages over loose talking, plus those incidents and happenings came too easily for out protagonists. Well it may be used to build the characters and it is a special style intended for Sunil’s & Ramakant’s characters. Plus I will count this story on lower scale as some other books I’ve read from SMP. The readability is okay, include many one liner dialogiesThis book of mine was published in 2006, and it cost me only Rs.30, and its being published by Raja Pocket Books.
If you’re an avid reader, you can opt out for this book, and try other Hindi novels from SMP first. For me I will say, I’ll try to read all novels by SMP. I tried other HIndi authors, but was not impressed because of 2 reasons - first their books are generally comes in series, I wanted to read only standalone novels, plus they are not that capable of writing stories as SMP does, maybe SMP copies, but still I wanted to read him only as of now(I am not counting classic HIndi writers, they’re league ahead, this only includes fiction hindi pocket book writers, and excluding Devki Nandan Khatri as well, coz I loved Chandrakanta). So I will rate this novel on 2.5/5 but if you wanted t o read, it will give a good timepass.
GRuchirG.
Jai Raam ji ki:)