Baaz, Anuja Chauhan
Baaz
⭐️⭐️
Anuja Chauhan and her books remind me of 2 minutes Masala noodles. It’s the same, old, hackneyed, unhealthy, quick chikclit but still the comfort food it’s supposed to be which makes me keep going back to it.
Being a quick and chill read, it helps me get out of reading slump and also add numbers to my reading list. However, the quality of books is getting bad to worse, it’s more of a Bollywood script. I constantly kept getting Sonam Kapoor’s image in my head as the lead girl. They don’t really need to shoot a new movie, just cut copy paste scenes from Aisha, Khoobsurat, Zoya factor, Veere di wedding and tada it’s ready. No one can tell the difference just like the book - old vine in a new bottle.
Chauhan must have a checklist somewhere because there are so many cliches,
The usual Protagonists -
A Ruly, outspoken, self absorbed girl always getting into trouble. Not conventionally beautiful but Tom boyish and still makes every man swoon still
+ Meets Handsome Jaat cocky boy
With their fancy bantering and quipping
+ Meet in typical pride and prejudice way starting at wrong foot
+ A war backdrop which makes no difference quote unquote ‘even though it’s considered a tribute to our defense forces’
+ as it’s 70s timelines so it has to be 1971 India Pak war
+ India Pakistan rivalry which sells bollywood, politics and any thing
+ Advertising world with cheeky jingles and quips
+ some toe curling and taut man butts to appease the woman readership
+ Hot stud of a man with his bulging biceps and Jaat budhi.. so basically a male bimbo
+ No moms but many mother figures
+ Perpetual daddy issues in protagonists
+ ‘righteous’ girl who wants to do ‘good’ for the world and does the token gesture of dance and song with orphans
+ pseudo feminist Heroine who is angry at all men in general repeating constantly - ‘All men are dogs or snakes’
+ And the most ironical thing is how Anuja Chauhan’s girl protagonist claims to be no damsel in distress ready to take a stand and fight (most unwisely and with any and everyone, roadside or political leaders of country), but always getting into trouble and needing a savior. So the push and pull between I don’t need a man but may be I do lies the the self defeating formula of all strong independent girl protagonist chiclits.
I am guilty of reading it, but not appreciating it. My heart wants it but my brain detests it.
Sigh, I was really disappointed with the book as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is, but you know what it does lighten the stress of reading heavy books and also adds to my number
DeleteSigh, sadly bad books annoy me more than they used to before. If I know it's time pass before i start it's okay.
DeleteIn retrospect, I feel my brain reviewed it while my heart enjoyed how breezy it was. The most annoying part was how I could have watched it as a 2 hour movie rather than waste hours reading 😅
ReplyDeleteThat happens, the reviewing part of the brain won't shut off :P I hear you, although the movie isn't always good as was my experience with Zoya Factor (DQ rocked it!) but you won't lament that your time was wasted! Plugging in my review of Baaz :D
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