Half girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat

 A perfect bollywood movie. That's what I'll say, a book destined to be a bollywood movie. 

About the Book

The back cover of the book reads, 'Once upon a time, there was a Bihari boy called Madhav. He fell in love with a girl called Riya.

Madhav didn't speak English well. Riya did.

Madhav wanted a relationship. Riya didn't.

Riya just wanted friendship. Madhav didn't.

Riya suggested a compromise.

She agreed to be his HALF GIRLFRIEND.'

About the Author

Chetan Bhagat is an Indian author and columnist. Bhagat graduated in mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi and completed a PGP at IIM Ahmedabad. He started his career as an investment banker but left it after a few years to pursue writing. He has written nine novels and three non-fiction books. His first novel, Five Point Someone, was published in 2004. Half girlfriend was published in 2014. Many of his novels have been listed as bestsellers

About the Characters

The detailed description of the characters is already there in the book but I want to write what I read in between those lines. In short, how I understood them.

Madhav Jha is a typical innocent rural boy. Though he is a prince, he feels like a nobody in the world outside Dumraon. His actions are somewhat calculative but still end up creating a mess. He is impulsive to some extent.

Riya Somani is a quiet but not shy kind of person. She needs her space of at least a mile's diameter. She is very secretive about her life and emotions. She is strong and knows how to deal her situations in her own unique ways.

What I liked....

The book starts in Chetan Bhagat's hotel room in Patna, Bihar, India. The male protagonist of the story, Madhav Jha, has come to Chetan Bhagat with the journals by the love of his life, his (ex)half-girlfriend, Riya Somani. From here the story flows, building up each of these characters. I actually liked the setup.

Madhav Jha is described as a prince. There is also a scene of his coronation. I loved how the author narrated the dilemma of Madhav. A royal experiencing his own coronation ceremony in a democratic country. When Madhav says, 'It is no fun being a ruler when someone else still rules you.' This sentence meant much more than the mere words that formed it.

Running a non profit school in a village, leaving a high-profile job for this cause, contesting for Bill Gates Foundation funds, preparing for it, learning a language, all of it was so exciting, it held my interest throughout.

So my favourite part was indeed the second act, the Bihar scene. There is a movie based on this novel and I had already watched the trailer, so I knew Riya would come to Bihar, the question was how. And trust me the wait paid it off.

The story is like a sine or a cosine wave, for one moment you feel it is getting boring, and then comes an emotional twist to elevate it. These small troughs and crests are enjoyable. The story keeps you hooked most of the time. When I say a bollywood movie you can expect some chizy scenes. One thing I thought would have been different is the time gap between act 1 and act 2 and act 3 should have been a bit more. 

I genuinely feel loving a story or not, entirely depends upon each individual; so nobody can give the guarantee (I won't give). What we can comment about is the way of writing. This book has been written in simple English, easy to understand, easy to connect with and that makes it easy to feel those emotions. If you are planning on giving a shot to reading novels, you can start with this one.

Back when my sister bought this novel I had no plans at all of reading it, but here I am. The point is, people and some of their choices do change. Even the story suggests this. Long review short, I don't regret spending time on this journey with half girlfriend. Tell me how you liked the novel.

If you have, both, read the book and watched the movie, which experience was better?