ISBN - 978-93-82473-03-9
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2013
PAGES - 196
GENRE - Fiction/Self-Help/Reality Fiction
BINDING - Paperback
AUTHOR - S.V. Divvaakar
SYNOPSIS - ‘I’m sure you can do a much better job than Bhagath!’
When BB hears these inspiring words from his sexy lady boss, his staid life as a successful analyst in an MNC goes into a tailspin.
Bitten by the ego bug and smitten by her, BB sets off on his quest to write a book that’s better than India’s greatest writer Dr.Bhagath’s blockbusters. Nothing unusual about this for BB, who likes a good fight. Except that he and Bhagath had been classmates and friends at college.
What follows is a roller-coaster voyage of the debutant author and his book, with all its twists and cul-de-sacs. Brushes with publishers, celebrities, retailers, book chains, and competition with the alliances among giants, mark the challenger’s journey, upping the stakes at every stage.
Will BB catch up with his famous friend?
What will their encounter be like?
Written from inside the ring, ‘Beaten by Bhagath’ is a gripping tale ...the first-ever about the unseen side of the wonderland of Indian fiction.
FL Speak - The title is very suggestive right? When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be a potboiler of a future Bollywood movie. Was I disappointed with my assumption? Very much. Was I disappointed with the book itself. NO.
Beaten by Bhagath is more of a self help/reality fiction book than a complete fiction. Ofcourse there is a fictional story in between. And I applaud the author for the entire concept. Writing a book is the easy part. Selling it is a whole different ball game. And this book shows how extremely hard it can be for a new author, much to the chagrin of the protagonist.
And then there are the funny moments. Like getting caught by his wife for splurging their savings on the survival of his book. If there is any bad luck in the world, it meets our defiant protagonist. But hardships and failures only strengthen the motivation. He survives. He fails. He realizes. Life is not a damned race around the world in 80 days. It is a leisurely world trip.
The book does open your mind. I believe I can write a book. But the amount of moolah the protagonist spends in making sure his book reaches the right people makes me blanch. There is no way in sweet earth I can spend that much. Ergo, its no point writing a book that doesn't even make it to the local stand. Ofcourse, you'll say, you write a book because you want to. But who are we really kidding? We want others to read what we write.
If you're expecting a story of how two friends turn enemies/frenemies while in the competitive business of writing books, STOP. There is no such thing here. The cover art doesn't help. Its a guy holding a cricket bat with books flying all around. If you want to be an author and you've no bloody clue how to be one, or you're bored with all the soppy romance books by every engineer with over-glorified sex scenes and ever-changing metaphors for falling in love, this is the one to pick.
Never judge a book by its cover or its first few chapters. Some of them are gems in disguise of coals. Beaten by Bhagath may not be the cliched book you're expecting but if you do read it, you'll realize it was worth doubting yourself.
Rating - 3/5 stars
PRICE - INR 125/-
P.S| Sincere apologies to the author and Yatin for the book. It has been an extremely difficult month both emotinally and socially. I hope the review was worth the wait.
Lovely! This sounds like a refreshing break from the I-have-written-a-book kind of authors! :D
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I would really appreciate author for daring to write on such content. I feel its a must read for every aspiring author. Looking forward to his third book lets see what stored in that. :)
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