<> Revolution 2020 : Book review

Synopsis

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition
Author(s)	Chetan Bhagat
Country	India
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fiction
Publisher	Rupa & Co.
Publication date	October 2011
Media type	Print (Paperback)

Once upon a time, in small-town India, there lived two intelligent boys.


One wanted to use his intelligence to make money.
One wanted to use his intelligence to create a revolution.
The problem was, they both loved the same girl.

Welcome to Revolution 2020. A story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success and love in Varanasi. However, it isn’t easy to achieve this in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?

From the bestselling author of Five Point Someone, one night @ the call center, The Three Mistakes of My Life and 2 States, comes another gripping tale from the heartland of India.  Are you ready for the revolution?

Revolution 2020 is Chetan Bhagat’s fifth book after four successive best sellers. With over 5 lakh pre – orders you could be forgiven for thinking that his latest offering was keenly awaited by his fans after a 2 year drought with his “2 States: The Story of My Marriage” releasing way back in 2009. With a title like “Revolution 2020″ and Love.Corruption.Ambition as its tagline / slogan, you expect something different from Chetan Bhagat this time. So does this book succeed? Let’s see!

Gopal is a relatively poor fellow whose barely making ends meet. He’s no stranger to struggles in life whether it is tackling the entrance exams of IITs and NITs or finding his ambition in life. He feels that only money can get you happiness. Raghav on the other hand is ready to mount a revolution against everything corrupt and wrong happening in the society. He believes that someone has to stand up against the system. Aarti is a happy go lucky girl who every guy would dream of having as his soul mate.

The three were the best of friends since school but “Love, Corruption and Ambition” combine together to bring differences between them. As you must have guessed it, both love the same girl and therein lies the main problem.

At its core, this book is a love story like any other Chetan story. But then the expose of the corrupt education system, the profit making private engineering colleges, issue of bribing etc. give the book a contemporary feel. Probably it wasn’t destined since he started writing the book 2 years back, but the issue of corruption has been reignited by Anna Hazare. And for the same reason a lot of readers would associate with the issues mentioned in the book pretty well.

By basing his story in Varanasi, Chetan has shown the willingness to go beyond the metros he has generally portrayed in his story and probably strike a cord with the semi urban populace. His descriptions of each and every ghat are fantastic which goes to show the amount of research he has put in for the same. Another interesting fact different from his earlier books is that the main protagonist is shown (at least in the first half) as someone who isn’t rich but generally has to save money to make do with things in his life.

But the book is predictable and ridden with cliches as usual. You normally know what to expect next. But nonethless the ending was a bit of surprise though yeah it does complete the melodrama pretty well. The premise of the story is interesting but many a time you feel as though things have been a bit extended. A crispier editing job could have made things a lot better.

The characters are pretty well etched it. Actually so well etched out that you can associate movie which actor would be portraying that particular role. The narrative and flow of the story is pretty good as it moves effortlessly from their childhood in Varanasi to Gopal’s coaching classes in Kota to them becoming adults.

Considering the title and the different set of expectations I had, its a bit of a disappointment. But for crazy Chetan fans, go for it! As a matter of fact if I am not wrong, this is Chetan’s most expensive book till date at an MRP of Rs 140. Wonder the reason behind such a hike? Was the content really worthed this hike?

Spoiler Alert: Book version of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (Mostly), Rajneeti / Guru(Some parts). It sometimes reminds you of “If God was a Banker” by Ravi Subramanian as well.

Rating -  2.5/5 (Light breezy read as usual)

Update – For people who ask, the poor rating has been given because of the following reasons: -

1. Predictable, cliched and melodramatic script

2. Not too great editing

3. Nothing much with respect to the title other than a few instances (The title is important because a Chetan Bhagat book is keenly awaited. And with a title like Revolution 2020, you associate something more than just rehashed versions of movie scripts)

Major Characters

Gopal Mishra

An average youngster, who is deeply in love with Aarti wants to marry her by getting settled in an non-engineering background because he is ranked too low in the AIEEE and JEE exams. He takes up these exams for the sake of his sick father Baba,where he takes loans after loans and finally makes his son an orphan, when Gopal scores low once again in his entrance exams as he undergoes the coaching at Kota.

Raghav Kashyap

A friend of Gopal Mishra, a bright engineering student who has a penchant for writing, gets into the BHU at Varnasi,rejects his offer at a prominent MNC, loves Aarti and starts a notice publishing firm named Revolution 2020 after he gets sacked from Dainik a very popular magazine at Varnasi. Raghav devotes his time and energy by helping out the poor and needy and to bring a change into the society by bringing light to the latest corruption issues in the city of Varnasi

Aarti Pratap Pradhan

The most beautiful girl, right from their schooldays, aspiring to become an airhostess and daughter of the District magistrate(Collector) of Varnasi where she loves Raghav, goes for outing with Gopal which puzzles Gopal most of the time as whom does she love .

Raman Lal Shukla

The MLA of Varanasi, who plays a major role and brings a change into Gopal's life who is downtrodden by his father's sudden death, unpaid debts and his love failure. He stays with him during thick and thin whenever Gopal needs an emergency.

The story revolves around these above 4 characters who are a major role and supporting roles are played by Sunil friend of Gopal where he introduces him to the MLA, Dubey lawyer of Gopal.

We're not gonna rate this book, since it is meant to be rated yourself , after you experience the REVOLUTION 2020 . its after all just 140 Rupees (online price Rs.84)  . Just go for it !!


Buy online :http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/books/revolution-2020/9788129118806#

A few words about the author....

Chetan Bhagat is the author of five blockbuster novels – Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of life (2008), 2 States (2009) and Revolution 2020 (2011).

Chetan’s books have remained bestsellers since their release, and have been adapted into major Bollywood films. The New York Times called him the ‘the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history.’ Time magazine named him in the “100 Most Influential People in the world” and Fast Company, USA listed him as one of the world’s “100 most creative people in business.”

Chetan writes columns for leading English and Hindi newspapers, focusing on youth and national development issues. He is also a motivational speaker.

Chetan quit his international investment banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing and make change happen in the country. He lives in Mumbai with his wife  Anusha, an ex-classmate from IIMA and his twin boys Shyam and Ishaan.

Happy reading!!