HYDERABAD: Bollywood love stories have always been unpredictable. One can never tell where we will be by the end of the story. Will we cry? Will we go home in high spirits because it ended well?
Will we be angry? Will we find hope and courage in them?
Or will we just go and drown ourselves in comfort food just because we relate to the story so much?
One can never tell any of this. But what we can guarantee is that whatever story comes at us, it is going to be entertaining, even if it is in the smallest of ways.
Sonali Dev’s ‘A Distant Heart’, the fourth in her Bollywood series, is one such book.
‘A Distant Heart’ is the story of Kimaya and Rahul, two childhood friends from different ends of the class spectrum.
Kimi’s father Kirit is a politician with considerable clout who eventually becomes Chief Minister. As a child, Rahul watched his father, a policeman, give his life for Kirit.
Since then, Kirit took up the responsibility of making sure that Rahul and his siblings got quality education.
Not wanting to stay in Kirit’s debt, Rahul decides to work for the politician, and in the process, gains a friend in Kirit’s daughter Kimi.
Kimi has a rare illness that does not allow her out of her protected environment, and she lives vicariously through Rahul.
As years pass, Kimi and Rahul, now a policeman himself, grow close and fall in love with each other.
But while Kimi is brave enough to ask Rahul for what she needs, Rahul’s debt to Kirit makes it difficult for him to accept what’s between them. And when Kimi’s heart transplant and a black market for organs intersect, all hell breaks loose.
Will Kimi and Rahul find a way through the lies and deception? Or will the lies and deception get the better of the couple?
‘A Distant Heart’ is a well-written Bollywood-style entertainer that will appeal to your romantic side. Alternating between perspectives and timelines, it gives you a better understanding of the three main characters in the story and helps you connect to them better.
One could go so far as to say that this would make a nice masala potboiler of a movie if it has popular actors in the lead.
Thanks to the class divide between Kimi and Rahul and all their shared history, Rahul’s hesitance in having a relationship with Kimi is completely understandable, if not relatable.
His feelings for Kimi and his “duty” towards Kirit can never be on the same side of the line because Rahul can’t have a relationship with the daughter of the guy who he cleaned windows and gardened for.
Dignity of labour isn’t a thing in our country, whatever many may think. And this is absolutely heartbreaking.
The downside of the book is that it is repetitive and feels like it stretches for ages without coming to the point.
A couple of instances remind you of other Bollywood movies and I wish the author had paid more attention to detail to avoid similarities. Some revelations aren’t strong enough, no thanks to how the narrative drags.
All in all, ‘A Distant Heart’ has its flaws but has enough masala to pull you in and make you stay till the very end.
Because no matter what, you will find yourself rooting for good to win and when it looks like it won’t, the book does take you on a different ride altogether!
Publisher: Harper Collins
Price: `299