I have been asked, why do I waste time reviewing, ‘The Girl in Room 105’; a Chetan Bhagat novel? More so when I uncage his books from time to time. And the answer is simple, he sells, that means he has a market for his stories. This market is primarily in Tier-II and III towns. And so, I believe, his stories reflect/mirror the current social environment in such places. I read it just like I used to watch Govinda Movies way back. The novel was released in 2018, and I listened to it on Audible in 2020. Having now justified and post rationalised my choice let me get down to business.
So, here was Chetan Bhagat jumping tracks from romance to mystery. Should I understand that the masses are no longer interested in love? Or maybe his archive of failed romances is emptied out in last few books. No, I don’t think so.
Even in this book ‘The Girl In room 105’, which he calls as the ‘Unlove Story’, Chetan Bhagat does not move away from romance. It still has the passionate belief, and follow-through of love baked adult. And he continues having numbers in the title of his books. Half Girlfriend, Three Mistakes of my life, five-point something… and now, The girl in room 105
THE SHIFT.
As a marketer, he slowly tested the waters for ‘Unlove Story’ and then launched into a series. But, don’t think he has written his last love story.
The protagonist of ‘The Girl in Room 105’, the lover, having helped the Delhi police solve a case where he was a prime suspect now sets up a private detective agency. In the next novel ‘An Arranged Murder’, the duo get their first case.
Somewhere to me, it was all Rajan-Iqbal and Secret Seven type mystery solved by coincidence and some luck.
THE PLOT
This time in ‘The Girl in Room 105’, Keshav Rajpurohit the ex-IIT Delhi student is now teaching at an IIT preparatory coaching classes. His life sucks. He lives with Saurab, a friend and a colleague. While in IIT he has met ZARA. Sometime later they broke up. Keshav, the heartbroken guy, still loves her. He still thinks he is the best guy for her, and things will change for the better. To live, he drowns himself in alcohol. He repeatedly makes calls and messages to her when he is drunk. In all, he keeps stalking Zara after years of separation. Zara keeps ignoring him. By the way, Keshav is the son of a prominent Hindutava pracharak leader with political ambitions from Rajasthan. And ZARA a Muslim.
Then one day, on Zara’s birthday, he gets a message from Zara. Zara was checking why does he not wish her on her birthday anymore, She also asks, if he will come to her hostel (she is a PhD student in IIT Delhi) to wish her, right now. When he lands there late at night to wish her, his life changes. Zara is dead, and he is the prime suspect. Later the police arrest the hostel gatekeeper, and the case is over. But, our hero Keshav thinks otherwise. The rest of the book is about his digging for the truth.
FINAL WORD.
Yes, Chetan does manage to hoodwink the readers on the real culprit. And for that many impractical subplots develop. Chetan retains his style of an eased out narrative with even simpler English. And he does a decent job with his first unlove novel. However, read ‘the Girl in Room 105’, Chetan Bhagat’s 10th book, if you have read him in the past and enjoyed his books. It is sloppy Chetan managing to experiment.
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Blog/103/2020
