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We have a term called ‘paisa vasool’ in Hindi. It means ‘worth the money’ and is generally used in reference to films. A mainstream Bollywood film is termed paisa vasool and is commercially successful only when it constitutes the following factors:
1)tA hero who can do anything and everything under the sun. He can achieve impossible feats and always survives bizarre accidents.
2)tA heroine comes across as smart independent women in beginning but turns into a cardboard cutout by the end. Just another pretty face, another damsel in distress.
3)tA plot which is always over the top. Includes dramatic twists, graphic deaths, a little romance thrown here and there, and a demented villain. In the end the hero saves the day and then shares some steamy/mushy moments with the heroine.
Halfway through Angels and Demons, I realized that except for the trademark bollywood songs, this book shared every other characteristic of a typical masala film. Logic and reason have only cameo roles, all the characters are one dimensional, there are unexpected twists and turns all along, the prose can be described as pedestrian at best, but somehow you feel compelled to finish the book. To be honest though, my compulsion arose more from the fact that I had bought the book (damn these book sales) than from anything the novel had to offer. That Dan Brown got half of the facts wrong does not please me either. Still, I would give this page turner 2.5 stars, because at the end of the day it was “paisa vasool” and entertaining.
1)tA hero who can do anything and everything under the sun. He can achieve impossible feats and always survives bizarre accidents.
2)tA heroine comes across as smart independent women in beginning but turns into a cardboard cutout by the end. Just another pretty face, another damsel in distress.
3)tA plot which is always over the top. Includes dramatic twists, graphic deaths, a little romance thrown here and there, and a demented villain. In the end the hero saves the day and then shares some steamy/mushy moments with the heroine.
Halfway through Angels and Demons, I realized that except for the trademark bollywood songs, this book shared every other characteristic of a typical masala film. Logic and reason have only cameo roles, all the characters are one dimensional, there are unexpected twists and turns all along, the prose can be described as pedestrian at best, but somehow you feel compelled to finish the book. To be honest though, my compulsion arose more from the fact that I had bought the book (damn these book sales) than from anything the novel had to offer. That Dan Brown got half of the facts wrong does not please me either. Still, I would give this page turner 2.5 stars, because at the end of the day it was “paisa vasool” and entertaining.
