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| Edited By: Shivani Kala |Source: DNA |Updated: Dec 05, 2017, 01:57 PM IST
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt's first novel, touted by publisher Penguin as a 'Metro read', is a trip down memory lane, but for the cringe-inducing type. A Handful of Sunshine reminds one of Bollywood romance movies of a particular time — love at first sight, boy following the girl claiming undying passion (or is it stalking), and girl acquiescing after a bit. Bhatt even manages to throw in a quick trip to Switzerland, though Mumbai and London remain the main settings of this novel.
The book starts with a meeting between the two principal characters, Veer and Mira, eight years after the end of their relationship. The story goes into the past, and is propelled by more such meetings. Clothes and colognes remain the focus while the author narrates what can be best described as lukewarm rendezvous.
Mira is rich, has a doting family, and her main job is to look stunning. Some words and phrases crop up at an alarming frequency — 'petite', 'great legs', 'tiny waist', 'fitted/skimpy black dress', and 'I had never felt like this before'. Her other job is to get her breath knocked out by whatever Veer is saying (mostly on the lines of 'tera mujhse hai pehle ka nata koi', but much less poetic). Veer, on the other hand, seems surprised by anything she says, as if he cannot believe his 'angel' could have any sort of mental faculty.
The other two characters, Kavita and Akhil, seem a bit nuanced but not much attention has been paid to them. The story has been narrated in the form of alternating internal monologues by Mira and Veer. Separation, forced by circumstances and two deaths, brings some zing to the plot. The trite language, however, makes it hard for any idea to stick for long.
The story revolves around the passion shared by the two lead characters. In the end, where this passion should have reached a feverish pitch after building up for so long, comes across as sudden and unsatisfactory. The trouble is, instead of being a book on which a movie can be based, this is a book based on a movie whose era ended long ago.
