Love Beyond 22 Yards by Sourabh Mukherjee
I was super excited about the Book Love Beyond 22 Yards by Sourabh Mukherjee. The reason is also obvious. The book is about the famous pairing between Bollywood and Cricket. Indian cricketers and Indian actors have a huge fan following not only in India but worldwide. And when the romance blossoms between the stars of these two fields it becomes a living room discussion in each household. Fans anxiously wait for every minute details about the power couples. Thanks to the media, they relentlessly stalk the power couples for the news to satiate the hunger of the public for more.
Stories Of Six Couples Only
The author has selected only a few such love stories, six to be precise, between cricketers and Bollywood actors which includes the adorable Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore, courageous Neena Gupta and Viv Richards, unrequited love between Garfield Sobers and Anju Mahendru, pair which was frowned upon Zeenat Aman and Imran Khan, strong bonding between Mohammed Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani, love that turned sour between Mohsin Khan and Reena Roy.
Many Were Left Out
What were the criteria on the basis of which the author selected these pairs and left out others is not clear, especially the recent one like Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech, Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra, Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatge, Manoj Prabhakar and Farheen Khan.
Nothing New To Read
The theme of the book is really good. Love stories between Cricketers and Actors is always a matter of interest for millions of fans. People want to read and hear and see more and more about them. As a consequence there is not much left unsaid about these blazing celebrity pair. So what matters the most when you try to write such a book is the presentation of the already said facts and anecdotes. They have to be presented in a style that they appear to be fresh.
But the author does a half hearted attempt in bringing out their stories. The entire book reads like bunch of newspaper article put together and not like a deep researched non fiction book. In a couple of place, the author has used fictional set up to introduce the couple, but more or less the book is written in fixed format. The story telling was extremely weak and narration was tepid.
The Verdict
I was expecting from the author an intensive and extensive research on these pairs with a thrilling and dramatic presentation of their love stories. Some interesting anecdotes, untold and forgotten facts, etc. which could thrust some value to the book. Something different. The author really disappoints.
About The Author
The author Sourabh Mukherjee is from my home town, Kolkata. The story of his books is also based in Kolkata and naturally has a flavour of the city I grew up. There is an instant connection. That is the only reason I keep picking up his books.
Sourabh Mukherjee has established himself as a crime thriller writer with his Agni Mitra series, which includes two books In The Shadow of Death and The Colours of Passion. He has also written many short stories. Love Beyond 22 Yards and Crime Beyond 22 Yards are his non-fiction work.
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