April 2010 ...... Books ...... Movie Review ...... NRI PULSE 15 2 States: Breezy Tale Of Karthik Calling Karthik Inter-State Marriage Exploring The Human Psyche 2 States: The Story Of My Marriage Starring: Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, Ram Kapoor and Vivan By Chetan Bhagat Bathena; Director: Vijay Lalwani Rupa & Co. New Delhi (Paperback 269 pages) BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE to shoots to meetings. Farhan, usually affable and accessible to friends is said to have turned off his Yes, the name is catchy and the concept of BY MAHADEV DESAI of the wealthy and fair-as-milk Punjabi girls. She phone in an effort to create a more realistic por- the movie is novel. Debutant writer director Vijay even drags Krish to see the daughter of one of his trayal of an isolated, desolated man and it shows. Lalwani unravels the mystery of Karthik receiv- Chetan Bhagat has by now acquired almost aunts. Fortunately for Krish, the daughter knows Farhan is a treat to watch in his loser mode. His cult status with the young Indian readers with his about Ananya so the matter ends there. ing calls from Karthik in the thriller mode and the three blockbuster novels, five point someone The bank decides to post Krish in its Chennai budding love story between Karthik and his col- (2004), one night @ the call center (2005) and the branch. Chennai is a bit of cultural shock for Krish. league in the romance mode of the movie. It ap- The human psyche is a complex sub- 3 mistakes of my life (2008). All three books have He stays in a chummery with other bank trainees. pears that the director struggles to define the theme ject matter to deal with and often open remained bestsellers since their release and have He adjusts to listening to Tamil talk; Carnatic as a result of which the narrative oscillates be- inspired major Bollywood films. music; eating idlis, dosas and tween suspense and romance and neither angles to various interpretations. KcK strikes The New York Times called staple rice dishes on banana absorb much of our attention. a chord in its attempt to capture vari- Chetan ‘the biggest selling English leaves; and even wearing a The protagonist Karthik Narayan (Farhan ous sensibilities of human nature. language novelist in India’s history. lungi!(with a belt first time). Akthar), a ‘strange fellow’ as described by one of Chetan has written yet another Krish wins over Ananya’s con- his bosses is the typical urban underdog, timid and shy. He is undervalued by his boss Mr. Kamat best seller, ‘2 States: The story of servative parents by giving tu- body language is as perfect as can be. Deepika is (Ram Kapoor), bullied by colleagues, and simply my marriage’, inspired from the itions to Ananya’s scrawny not far behind and compliments Farhan with ease ignored or overlooked by female co-workers, one real story of the author and his nerd of a brother, and helping and simplicity. The short hair do that she was so in particular, Shonali wife Anusha who is from Tamil dad who is a Deputy Manager afraid of, suits her Mukherjee (Deepika Nadu. At the outset, the author in a bank, to prepare a chic image as an up- Padukone). Shonali, sums up the novel: PowerPoint presentation town girl. The ro- the hot and happen- ‘business plan’. He also per- mance between ing chick of the office ‘Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. suades his boss Bala to invite Karthik and Shonali is the love of Girl’s family has to love boy. Ananya’s mother to share the is sweet and believ- Karthik’s dreary life Boy’s family has to love girl. stage with famed singers able and the younger and he has 1317 Girl’s Family has to love Boy’s Hariharan and crowd will surely be unsent emails ad- Family. Boy’s family has to love S.P.Balasubramanium and sing able to relate to dressed to her in the girl’s family. at the bank’s client’s apprecia- Karthik’s misgivings four years he has been Girl and Boy still love each other. tion dinner. about reaching out to at the company. No, They get married.’ After getting a nod a cool girl at the of- Karthik’s life is not from Ananya’s parents Krish fice. Shefali Shah and rosy and he is unable The novel about inter-com- takes Ananya to Delhi to get Ram Kapoor in their to do anything to munity and inter- State marriage between a Punjabi his parents approval.Krish and his mother take Ananya limited screen pres- change it for the bet- boy Krish Malhotra from Delhi and Tamil Brah- to an over-the-top lavish Punjabi wedding where Krish’s ence make an impact. ter. Not until he re- min girl Ananya Swaminathan from Chennai (who nosy, gossip-loving aunties take amusing digs at South The thriller aspect of ceives a life altering Indians.Krish manages to get his mother’s approval for the movie however phone call through his marriage.He and Ananya arrange a second get-together lacks certain inten- Reading the novel is like watching a brand new phone for their parents in Goa. But this time too Krish’s sity that Bollywood from, as the caller Bollywood movie. It is written in simple, father is absent and after a few petty differences, the regulars are used to. puts it, “himself”. families part with hurt feelings. While Vijay Lalwani lucid prose with tongue-in-cheek humor. The caller Karthik re- Krish, who is now posted to Delhi branch, does manage to success- The characters are believable and one assures Karthik and pleads in vain to sulking Ananya. In the end, it is fully bring forth a tele- transforms him a well can easily relate to them. Krish’s father who gives a pleasant surprise and phone to the center dressed, confident helps Krish and Ananya tie the knot in Chennai. A stage of a mystery and savvy new couple of years later, this coming together between story, the initially grip Karthik who manages drinks and eats meat though!) is highly engaging, two states and two communities results in twins- looses its hold towards to push for a promo- hilarious and breezy. It is a case of love at first maybe to deliver a message, as Krish says, “They the end. The story does tion and bag the girl of his dreams. Karthik how- sight when they meet in IIM (Indian Institute of (new born twins) will be from a state called India.’ offer a rational explanation that may be no “Usual Sus- ever fails to follow one simple rule, never tell any- Management) Ahmedabad mess. They decide to The novel is full of hilarious wise cracks and pects” climax, but is logical nonetheless. Music by one about the phone calls and to always pick up study together in the dorm at night and their love one-liners like: “Her aunt slid a hand into her bo- Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, especially “uff, teri ada” is groovy. the telephone when it rings and so the early morn- blossoms. Soon they are sleeping together. A year som ATM and pulled out a wad of notes. I won- Niharika Khan’s styling in very much cosmopolitan ing bolster calls turn menacing when he tells Shonali and half later both complete their studies, secure dered if her cleavage also contained credit cards.” and synchronous with the story’s setting. Sanu Verghese about them. His therapist Dr. Kapadia (Shefali well paying jobs-Krish in the vaunted Citi bank in “A sardarji in Chennai was akin to spotting a shows his skills in cinematography capturing Karthik’s Shah) also tries to help but to no avail. Karthik is Chennai and Ananya, a marketing position in re- polar bear in Delhi” seclusion and desperation in dark and light at interesting back to square one. Does Karthik succeed in get- puted HLL,and decide to get married. So far so good. “Saying no to Harish is like declining the camera angles. ting his groove back or will he succumb to his own But the problems begin when they decide to Nobel Prize”. There is thrill and romance, but neither as- insecurities without the help of caller Karthik? invite their parents to the convocation, so they Reading the novel is like watching a pect shines through. KcK is not high on the flam- can get to know each other. Krish and his grumpy Bollywood movie. It is written in simple, lucid Karthik calling Karthik (KcK) works in parts boyance factor and opts for a more subtle rather abusive father, who is retired from army, don’t get prose with tongue-in-cheek humor. The charac- but eventually is just a sum of all its parts and dark approach. The human psyche is a complex along too well so he doesn’t attend the convoca- ters are believable and one can easily relate to them. lacks a homogenous screenplay. Farhan Akthar is subject matter to deal with and often open to vari- tion. After the convocation, Krish and Ananya Chetan quit his international banking career a fabulous actor and has been a steady path of ous interpretations. KcK strikes a chord in its at- arrange an outing with their families, which doesn’t in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing and progression since Rock On. Farhan is seen solving tempt to capture various sensibilities of human help at all. Krish returns to Delhi with his mother make change happen in the country. He lives in a Rubik cube at regular intervals throughout the nature. The attempt is honest and the realistic char- who is highly prejudiced against dark-skinned Mumbai with his wife Anusha, an ex-classmate movie. Apparently he became so passionate about acters are refreshing. KcK may not vow you, but Madrasi girls and wants to marry off Krish to one from IIMA, and his twin boys Shyam and Ishaan. it that he solved it wherever he went from parties it will not bore you either.