Riot or Laugh-Riot??????

I became a member of this great networking site called Shelfari this year. It is basically a forum for members to write reviews about books, read about what others have written etc…

And like any networking site, this one has got communities too…!! I joined a 50-books-a-year challenge on the site… almost the end of August and I’ve read just 28… i don’t think I’ll EVER read another 22 in 4 months!!! L

But then again, this challenge had so many positives that I am not complaining one tiny bit… I have explored books like never before in my life… And I’m not speaking the best-sellers (although most of what I read did figure in best seller lists!!!) such as Harry Potter (haven’t read a single book, will eventually read it), the Lord of the Rings (ditto as Harry Potter) and so many others….. (my list of regretful “have-not-read-these” include A thousand splendid suns, every second counts, the Calcutta chromosome, motorcycle diaries, memoirs of a Geisha)

Oh, have to mention that I have been reading Shashi Tharoor books a lot…!! Latest is “Riot”, a gripping story about communal violence in a small town and how it affects everyone… This book does not give a scene-by-scene picture of how/why/when riots occur, but focuses more on the emotional battles that the people fight during such a crisis…

I was wondering if ever this book was “Bollywoodized” (don’t know if that is a word, please let me know if there is a better word), who would be acting in it!!! I fervently hope Farah Khan and Karan Johar are not into books….!! Imagine Johar Sir doing… ummm… lets see… well… A matter of honour perhaps!!! The movie simply has to star Shah Rukh Khan (even if Adam is in his mid-20s) as the main protagonist and Kajol as Heidi (it does not matter if their romance is subtle in the book, but for Johar how the 2 fall in love would span generations of family feuds, rain-dance, cliché dialogues)… Lawrence would be played by their “good-friend” Arjun Rampal… Because Adam goes to Switzerland in the book, a liberal dose of romantic-songs would be added to “capture the beauty of Swiss Alps”!!! The heroine CANNOT die (and hence, this movie is only “inspired from A matter of Honour”) and our hero fights 10-15 villains in the climax (care would be taken of ripping his shirt just a wee bit to showcase the 6 pack!!!) And Voila!!! 3.5 hrs later, we can walk free from the theatre……..!!! Free to go back to our mundane lives till the next Johar movie comes along!!! :)

Hey!!! I deviated sooooooooooo much!!! So I was speaking of books… I aint no critic… But Riot is an awesome book… Read it!!!!!!