Thrillers have a huge appeal and when you combine the genre of a thriller with Bollywood, it’s a winning combination. And author Juggi Bhasin combines the two very well in his book Bollywood Deception. I can even go as far as saying that Bollywood — the movie industry is one of the characters of the book. It’s not just the backdrop of the book, it’s also a live and kicking entity, pulsating with passion, streaked with greed and brimming with a whole lot of unpalatable truths. Once the patina of sophistication is stripped, once the veneer of sweetness is dropped and once the beautiful mask is removed, we are exposed to the ugly underbelly of an industry where it’s a case of survival of the most successful, where every Friday superstars are made and dreams are either fulfilled or shattered. The book cover is extremely enigmatic, the three colours predominant on the cover: red, black and white, convey their own story. The shades of black and white people portray and both these shades are imbued heavily with a tinge of red, denoting the cruel streak people harbour in their hearts. Bhasin has left nothing sacrosanct in his portrayal of Bollywood. Drugs, sex, sycophancy, casting couch, camps, award nominations, insecurities of big stars and their tactics to keep themselves in the news, acting schools, dog-eats-dog mentality of the stars, casting agencies, columnists, how star children have the cream roles and outsiders are trampled over, open marriages, all come for their fair share of exposure. I read somewhere that Bhasin says he got a good look into Bollywood for five years and discovered a cache of stories he could use after he left his job in Delhi in 2007 as a senior TV anchor and moved to Mumbai. With time on his hands Bhasin, who dabbled on stage in Delhi as an actor, went through the audition circuit in Bollywood to try his luck there. This exposed him to Bollywood and he got an up close and personal peek at its underbelly. And he has put this knowledge to good use in Bollywood Deception. The story starts with the murder of a starlet Jennie Bijlani followed by a series of murders of young aspiring actresses. To solve these murders the police summon Kas Batterywala, a disgraced former cop and his newly minted assistant Kassata aka Dr Kasturi Pandey, a suspended military doctor, from Delhi to Mumbai. The needle of suspicion for Jennie’s murder points to Bollywood, with many of its leading stars coming under the radar of suspicion. Kas and Kassata have to tread with extreme caution as they are dealing with stars who don’t just have fragile egos but also access to the top brass of the country. And these stars aren’t averse to pulling strings to get the detectives off their backs. It’s up to Kas and Kassatta to wade through the labyrinth of the scandalous lives of the top stars, dig out their perversions and discover the sinister games they play. As they wade deeper into their search they uncover the two faces everyone has, even the victim, Jennie Bijlani, is more the perpetrator of crime. With the clock ticking against them, Kas and Kassata race against time to connect the dots that will take them to the killer. But, they haven’t accounted for the mental games the killer plays. A smart killer makes for an intriguing read and Bhasin’s does exactly that — he plays mind games not just with his victims but also with the cops and the detectives, trying to mislead them. Plenty of things work in favour of Bhasin’s story-telling skills, he keeps the chapters short which is always a very good thing, especially for thrillers — his descriptions are minimal, he reveals the backstory of his characters slowly, like he is peeling the layers of an onion, one by one — and till the last minute the author keeps the readers guessing who the killer is. Right at the beginning he throws the spotlight of suspicion on an entire ensemble cast of unsavoury characters. While I can usually figure out who the killer is midway through a thriller, sadly, Bhasin got me. For me one of the characters summed up the Bollywood situation very well. According to the pimp, Shivam, one of the minor characters in the book, Bollywood is completely made up of three kinds of people: the users, the suppliers and the victims. You must have seen those film sets. They all show sparkling, wondrous facades. But the wood used in these facades is rotting and painted over. That is the real truth. The rest is all smoke and mirrors.
Bhasin’s detectives — the intense and brooding Kas and the feminist Kassata — are in many ways reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Though to be honest, they reminded me more of Steig Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Kassata with her fiery nature and in-your-face sexuality reminded me a lot of Salamander, especially when it came to teaching the men who have wronged her a harsh lesson. I have a few complains though. At times I found Kassata’s overtly sexual behaviour quite irritating, and for someone who appears hard as nails, Kas the Parsi detective’s suicidal tendencies were a bit too hard to digest, as was joint commissioner of police Ankitha Karandhikar’s promiscuity. But these are all very minor grouses, the story is gripping and makes for an interesting read. Throughout the book you are left wondering: Which actors inspired Bhasin’s characters Who are these starlets so eager for their tryst with fame Who is the ageing superstar What is it that really happens behind the scenes on award nights
Rachna Chhabria is a Bengaluru-based children’s author and a freelance writer
