Tinsel town is always the talk of town. Be it young or old they all have interests in the lives of stars and their families. But not many get to see the real them behind those close doors. Author Saurabh Garg in his book "The Nidhi Kapoor Story" tries to bridge the gap between the commoner and the celebrity with a twist in the tale. So what is the twist and how does it plans to charm the readers? Let's find out.
Nidhi Kapoor is a very successful, second-generation film star. She is the daughter of the great Nishant Kapoor, who came out of nowhere to become the first real superstar in the 80s.
The day before she is to start shooting for her much anticipated film, she comes home to discover her beloved pets killed mercilessly. Apart from the mangled dead bodies, the unknown assailant has left behind a letter threatening Nidhi, Nishant and their family.
ACP Prakash Mohile of the Mumbai Police is summoned to investigate the case. He asks Rujuta Singh, a photojournalist working on a photo-essay on Mumbai Police, to come along.
In the absence of any clues, Prakash and Rujuta are forced to dig into the past of Bollywood's first family. Unknowingly, they stumble upon a violent tale of lies, betrayal, treachery, infidelity and even murder at Kapoor's.
Little did they know that the murder of pets was going to be the first in a long sequence of attacks on Nidhi. The unknown assailant is adamant on taking away from Nidhi everything she holds dear-her family, her parental home, her career, her reputation and her life.
First look at the title and the cover and it asks a lot of questions from the readers. More or less it's a mystery as what to expect from the book. But moving on to the title it's not a lovey-dovey or a suggestive one which adds to the mystery. The blurb talks about stardom of a family and how events around them turn around in the present. The blurb finishes on a high and leaves a lot of questions on the mind of the readers.
The story is set off in Mumbai, where Nishant Kapoor is at the pinnacle of his career. He has got family, he has friends and enemies too. But the other side of his story comes out to be darker and violent when years down the line the past comes back to haunt his reclusive yet popular actor daughter Nidhi Kapoor. It's up to ACP Prakash Mohille and his so called assistant Rujuta Singh, the ace photographer to hunt down the assailants who more or less want to take away everything from Kapoor's. So what will it take to hunt down the assailants? Will Mohile be able to reach the depths? What are the missing links which will tie the entire thread or will it always be covered with a cloud of mystery? That's what the story is all about.
Once a thriller always a thriller. The story has the knack of picking up on the gentle nerves of the reader and prick on the softest of the spots, targeting the mind and churning the best out of the agile senses. There is a sense of calm yet the spots of black clouds hover around and cause eruption time and again. The elusive characters, the wretched past , the shady present and the uncertain future they all come together to build a story based on fears and guts. The drop down list of twists and turns is not huge, yet capable of hunting in packs to mislead the readers. The story forms an aura of intriguing suspense and capitalizes on the worst fears of a reader.
The book fails to recreate the story in the latter half and towards the end diminishes without a solid fight. A repetitive sequence of the past cuts down the momentum and looks a desperate attempt at challenging the wits of the reader. It succeeds up to a point but then becomes meaningless. Nidhi's role has been cut down to size by an overshadowing Rujuta which becomes an eye sore and hogs the limelight away. Rujuta's character springs up a bit too much than required rather than other primary fascia of the story.
All in all the book is a bold attempt to be amidst action with ruthless deliverance and thriving on ghosts from the past. The story churns out some mindful ideas and brings forth the book in a hard hitting manner but fails to live up to the expectation when needed the most. It plays a definitive part in impressing the readers but what could have been a fight to finish just runs out of water and sweat towards the end. Nonetheless it's a different taste of Bollywood which surely impresses and provides the entertainment in a not so expected manner. A hidden facade of barbarism under the shades of sophistication.
RATINGS:
3 OUT OF 5
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