The 6 P.M Slot - Naomi Dutta

 Title : The 6 P.M Slot

 Author : Naomi Dutta

 ISBN :  9788184001709

 Genre : Fiction

 Pages : 294

 Publisher : Random House

The cover of the book makes it look really cheesy but trust me it is not. As they say never judge a book by its cover and I completely agree with it. Naomi Dutta's first book, The 6 P.M. Slot is a take on reality TV shows and how they are conceived, conceptualised and how they are put on air. Also, the plot deals with crisis management when things go haywire when you least expect them. 

The book opens with the managing director of YTV, Rahul Singh with his counterpart Harish Swamy, the master of obscene expletives that would crack you up at times, thinking about filling in The 6 P.M slot for their Youth TV (YTV) channel. Its a famous quote by Neha Dhupia that, in this industry, either sex sells or SRK, the duo opt for the former option and go for a sex driven show and hire a raunchy anchor, Vrushali, for it. The show was supposed to be called "Love Calls" and Tania, a girl from Baroda was assigned to it as the producer. And thats how things roll in the plot. 

Two characters in the book were inspired from real life personalities, Rajneesh Tiwari, from Arnab Goswami of the The Newshour fame and Charlie Angel from Bobby Darling. Their dialogues and actions were completely lifted from what we have seen Arnab and Bobby doing on TV. 

Honestly, the book didn't go well with me. Personally I think, it should have been at least 70-80 pages shorter. Also, the plot loses its track in between. Though, I must appreciate Naomi's writing and adding humorous lines and wit which cracked me up almost every time. The characters are well defined and are used well in the story. Also, Vrushali's nasty attempts for english speaking perfectly were nicely woven in the story. All and all, if you work for entertainment industry, specially TV, I am sure you would be able to relate to it at many levels.

( Review asked by Random House)