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It's racy, it's simple and it's characteristically Chetan Bhagat. Half Girllfriend, the latest offering by India's favourite storyteller in the recent times, is all of these and most of all it reads like a film script. With full page-teaser ads, social-media hype and marketing strategies playing at the back of your mind, it is difficult to pick up this novel without any expectations at all. But in spite of 'Bhagat the bestseller' tag Half Girlfriend comes only half the way in making an impression. So sticking to the
optimistic part of the 'clichéd glass half full or half empty'
philosophy let's check out the positives first. The love story of a
simple and poor Bihari prince Madhav Jha and his rich 'princess' Ria
Somani has the masala and drama that Bhagat is so deft at creating.
The slick and smooth use of language adds to the momentum of the
story, which has all the ingredients like suspense, drama, heartbreak,
sacrifice, tragedy, love and passion.
The story moves from Delhi's St Stephen's College to a dusty town in Bihar to Patna to New York and the author has succeeded in capturing the feel of all these places, with New York topography getting the most elaborate of descriptions. Love-smitten Madhav's desperate sprint to reach his beloved towards the end is almost like watching the last over of a twenty twenty cricket match. One does love the Bhagat brand of writing, but where the glass seems half empty is the predictability of the narrative. The 'boy-meets-girl to misunderstanding and break up to meeting again, and getting separated again to the final fairy-tale ending' is all oh so 'been there done that ' scenario. Mr Bhagat we all love happy endings and candy-floss love stories, but may be now we expect something more from you and want to see you out of your comfort zone. The touch of realism that the author tries to add through a village school without toilets, Bill Gates' grant etc too seem like a put on and more an influence of Bhagat's newspaper articles. His efforts to make Riya enigmatic are also lame. While the autobiographical element in some of his earlier works was evident, in this one he plays himself, noted author Chetan Bhagat, and one can't help wondering if with this he has secured a role for himself in the movie version of the book. So after Five Point Someone, 3 Mistakes of My Life and Two States, Chetan Bhagat is half as good in Half Girlfriend. Thus, in short charmingly predictable yes, credible may be, but incredible definitely not.
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