A Bollywood Affair

A Fun, Sometimes Over-the-Top Madcap Bollywood Romance

(Full disclosure: I received a free book for review through Goodreads's First Reads program. Also, there are clearly marked spoilers towards the end of this review. Trigger warning for rape and child abuse.)

Like tens of millions of her peers, Malvika "Mili" Rathod is a child bride.* In a bargain struck by her grandmother and the groom's grandfather, Mili was married off at the age of four; she has spent the past twenty years waiting for her husband to return to Balpur and claim her.

Unfortunately, hers was not a meeting of the minds, in even the loosest sense of the term: a year after the marriage, her betrothed's mother packed up Virat and his younger brother Samir and moved the show more family to Nagpur, away from the clutches of their abusive and controlling grandfather. Not long after, Lata sent notice to the Balpur village council to have the marriage annulled; unbeknownst to the Rathods, grandfather retracted the paperwork. For the next two decades, he led Mili and her naani on, milking them for her dowry in exchange for empty promises that this would be the year that Virat - now a Squad Leader in the Indian Air Force - would send for her. Grandfather passed away several years ago, and naani is starting to panic: when she's gone, who will care for her granddaughter?

On the bright side, Mili is able to leverage her status as an officer's wife to pursue an education. ("I suppose an officer will want his wife to dress like a city girl. I suppose an officer will want his wife to read those books. I suppose an officer will wants his wife to..." ) Though Mili bears the dubious distinction of being the youngest bride in her village, she also just might be the most well-educated. As a kid, she biked ten kilometers (each way!) to attend St. Teresa's English High School for girls; and when she was twenty, she left Balpur for college in Jaipur. Now she works at the National Women's Center in Jaipur, helping victims of domestic violence. When we first meet her, Mili is headed for the United States, on sabbatical from her job to study applied sociology (with an emphasis on women's studies, natch) at Eastern Michigan University.

Meanwhile, Virat - believing in his bachelorhood with every fiber of his being - married another woman. He and Rima are expecting their first child when the legal notices start coming: apparently he's already married, and his first wife is claiming abandonment of both her and the family haveli in Balpur. The situation comes to a head when the unthinkable happens: Virat's plane is shot down, breaking both his legs and sending him into a week-long coma. Angry and frightened, Samir tracks Mili down in Ypsilanti, Michigan in order to persuade her to sign the annulment papers.

What comes next is a sort of madcap romantic comedy with a decidedly Bollywood spin, complete with mistaken identities; not one, but two road trips!; a family reunion; and a traditional Punjabi wedding in Ohio. Posing as a neighbor, Samir finds that this supposedly backwards, gold-digging village girl is really a kind-hearted romantic who holds the cure to his writer's block. What was meant to be a quick, down and dirty mission turns into a month-long adventure, as Samir nurses a freshly injured Mili back to health, reluctantly helps her right two star-crossed lovers, bangs out a new script, and falls in love - hard - with his would-be adversary. On her end, Mili struggles to balance her much-cherished traditions with her burgeoning feminism - not to mention, her growing attraction to this man who is most certainly not her husband.

A Bollywood Affair is a wonderfully diverse read; though the bulk of the story transpires in America, most of the characters are Indian, or of Indian descent. Dev further explores issues of race and identity through Samir, who is biracial. Virat and Samir share a father: when Virat was very young, Mir-chand traveled to America to study; there he met and fell in love with Samir's mother, Sara Willis. He died in a car accident when Samir was just a few years old; distraught and suffering from bipolar disorder, Sara gave Samir to Lata, Mir-chand's first wife, to raise.

As a child, Samir suffered the brunt of his grandfather's abuse. While much of this was misdirected blame for his son's death, there also existed a racial element to it; echoes of "white bastard" still ring through Samir's troubled head. A former model and unabashed womanizer, Samir's light "European" skin became a prized commodity later in life.

Cultural conflicts also abound - not between the Indian cast and their American landscape, but rather between the characters' differing Indian backgrounds. As Mili notes, "Isn't it amazing, Samir, how we're both from India but our Indias are so different?" She, a rural villager who embraces old traditions while also yearning for more: travel, education progress; he, a wealthy urban filmmaker-slash-playboy. Both take comfort in the familiarity of the other, so far from home - even as they marvel at the many differences between them. This clash also plays out in the relationship between Mili's roommate Ridhi and her boyfriend, Ravi; while the couple hopes to wed, Ridhi's parents are dead set against it, preferring that she marry a nice boy (doctor?) from Punjab, rather than someone from South India.

* begin spoilers *

While the story does have its fair share of overblown, over-the-top moments (it strains credulity that anyone could be as dangerously clumsy as Mili; and who in her right mind decides to lose her virginity down the hall from her partner's long-lost mother, with whom he's just been reunited, and is dying of cancer?), it's a rather fun ride. You can almost picture it playing out on the big screen.

* end spoilers *

That said, Dev initially does too good a job of painting Samir as a callous, trifling playboy. He treats his girlfriends like garbage (and we're not talking one-night stands, free of expectations; he blows off a girlfriend of six months rather breezily when she declares her love for him) and doesn't think much of women (save for his mother and sister-in-law) as a whole. He frequently uses sexist language (bitch, horse, uppity blonde) - as does, disappointingly, our heroine (witch, bitch, cow), who really should know better since she's a women's studies major and all (!). While he does rescue a teenager from an implied gang rape, he then goes on to blame the victim ("she was too stupid to know what kind of bastards guys were"). He acts jealous and possessive towards Mili. Samir becomes such the villain that I had trouble shipping him and Mili - intellectually, at least. By the end of the story, I suppose I was swept up in the romance well enough - which is a testament to Dev's dramatic flair, if nothing else. Yet I still think that Mili - for all her flaws, not the least of which is being a ginormous butt-insky - deserved better.

Dev also succumbs to the alarming "love redeems" trope - all Samir needs is the love of a good woman to heal the scars from years of abuse and get him to open up emotionally. In reality, Samir has problems (including possible PTSD) that only years of intensive therapy can fix.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 where necessary.

* A "child bride" is someone who was married before the age of 18. According to ICRW, "One third of girls in the developing world are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15." And "In 2010, 67 million women 20-24 around the world had been married before the age of 18." UNICEF estimates that more than 700 million women alive today were married as children.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2015/01/28/a-bollywood-affair-by-sonali-dev/ show less

A Bollywood Affair is the first book in Sonali Dev’s loosely connected Bollywood series. Our Indian heroine, Mili, was married when she was just four years old to Virat who was twelve at the time. It’s been twenty years ago, and she hasn’t seen her husband since, but she hasn’t given up on him coming to claim her. In the meantime, she’s done everything she can to better herself in hopes that being an educated woman will make Virat want her more, and she’s even traveled to the U.S. to take some university classes. Then one day a handsome stranger shows up who rocks her world and makes her start questioning everything she thought she wanted in life. Little does she know that the man who has managed to steal her heart is none show more other than her husband’s younger brother. Samir is a successful Bollywood screenwriter and director who traveled to the States to get Mili to agree to annul her marriage to Virat so that Virat can be assured that his own marriage to the love of his life is actually valid and their unborn child won’t be illegitimate. When Samir arrives at Mili’s apartment, she thinks that he’s the brother of her roommate who’s just eloped. Not wanting to have to lie for her, Mili makes a run for it on a rickety bicycle, crashing and injuring herself in the process. Samir rushes her to a nearby clinic, and when he realizes she has no one to look after her and that being near her has cured his long bout with writer’s block, he volunteers for the job. He only intends to keep her in the dark about his true intentions for being there until his new screenplay is finished and she’s recovered from her injuries. But then he insists on taking her to her friend’s wedding and slowly they grow closer and closer until they’ve fallen in love. But when Mili learns the truth, it could destroy the trust she has in him and spell doom for their budding relationship.

Mili is from a more conservative, rural background where traditional gender norms are practiced. As such, much of her identity is wrapped up in being a wife. Even though she hasn’t seen Virat since the day they were married as kids and even though child marriage is technically illegal, she’s remained true to him and longs for him to come claim her. For this reason, some readers may not take to Mili, but I thought that she was a good heroine with hidden strengths. She exercised her independence by persuading her grandmother to allow her to become educated, thinking it might make her a better wife, and she also got her grandmother to turn over her dowry jewelry, which she then sold to fund her trip to America and her education there. When Samir shows up and she’s attracted to him, her world turns upside down. At first, she fights it, claiming that she loves her husband even though she doesn’t know him, but the more time she spends with Samir, the more she starts to question everything she thought she wanted. He proves himself to be all that she could desire in a man and more, but at first, she thinks she has to stuff those feelings down into the friends-only box. But when she finds out from her grandmother that Virat has married someone else, she finally gives in to all of the emotions she’s been feeling for Samir. Of course, Samir hasn’t been entirely honest with her about his reasons for being there, which upends their fragile bond, leaving Mili heartbroken when she learns the truth.

I could really relate to Mili with her self-confidence issues and feelings of inadequacy. She lost her parents when she was too young to even remember them and was raised by her grandmother in a more traditional way that led to her having certain beliefs about a woman’s role, but I felt that she grew and changed, becoming more open-minded as the story progressed. I particularly liked how she defended Samir against tabloid allegations that he abused his ex-girlfriend, instinctively knowing that someone who’d been so kind and gentle to her, would never harm a woman. She was a kind person herself, always looking out for others, but she could also be amusing in her tendency to cry at the drop of a hat. Overall, I really liked Mili and thought she was a well-rounded heroine.

Samir’s father came to America, where he had an affair with Samir’s mother. His father died when he was young, and when his mother was unable to care for him, she took him to India to live with his father’s family. His father’s wife became his adoptive mother and the woman who raised him. When his grandfather badly abused him, she took him and Virat and fled to the city to keep them safe. He adores her for caring for him, but he still sometimes has nightmares of the abuse. As a successful Bollywood writer and director, he has a reputation as a playboy and commitment-phobe, which is what leads to the false story of abuse that his angry ex feeds to the tabloids. Samir’s big brother is everything to him, so when Virat is nearly killed in a plane crash and they learn that the child marriage they thought had been annulled wasn’t, he doesn’t hesitate to jet off to America in search of Mili to get her to agree to end the marriage for the sake of Virat’s wife and unborn child. He arrives, incensed that Mili is trying to get property out of Virat and thinking that she’s nothing but a gold-digger. But he quickly softens toward her when she crashes her bike, has no one else to look after her, and she proves to be the muse he desperately needs to write a new screenplay that he’s on a deadline to complete. Until the screenplay is finished, he’s reluctant to reveal his real reason for being there, but as he gently cares for Mili while she’s recovering from her injuries, he starts to question whether such a nice woman could really be so devious. After their road trip together to attend her friend’s wedding, he really starts to fall for her, which only makes him more hesitant to tell her the truth, leading to disastrous consequences. Samir has some of the qualities of a tortured hero because of his abusive past, but I love that his capacity for kindness to others hasn’t been compromised. He’s sweet and gentle with Mili even when he wasn’t sure of her motives. He’s a great son and brother, and although it’s hard for him, he eventually opens his heart to his biological mother as well. He may have made the wrong decision about not telling Mili the truth, but he paid a high price for it and was miserable afterward. Overall, he was a good hero that I liked very much.

A Bollywood Affair turned out to be a charming, enjoyable story that was a really fun read. I love how it started with Virat and Mili’s wedding, where a little Samir showed that kindness he possesses by trying to comfort a crying Mili even though it earned him a beating from his grandfather. That scene really tugged at my heartstrings right out of the gate. From there, the story alternates between being lighthearted and humorous and being more emotional and angsty. For example, Mili’s bike crash was rather comical, but the way Samir cares for her afterward was sweet and emotional. Then you have the families who tend to get up in each other’s business and be overly dramatic—something I gathered was a cultural thing—that never failed to make me smile at their antics. But then those moments were interspersed with more emotional and poignant ones like Samir seeing his biological mom for the first time in over two decades. There’s also a sweetness to the romance between Samir and Mili that I really enjoyed. A couple of things made me drop the half star, though. I was a bit disappointed that Samir never got the chance to relate his past trauma to Mili, which I thought could have been another moving moment that would have also helped solidify their connection. Also Samir and Mili only have one love scene, which was intensely passionate but not an entirely ideal experience for Mili’s first time. The author didn’t seem to have a problem with writing intimate scenes, so I thought she was going to follow-up with a slower more seductive scene afterward, but instead the narrative simply jumped to the cuddly aftermath of their second time, which wasn’t really satisfying to me. Otherwise, though, A Bollywood Affair was a very agreeable reading experience that managed to earn keeper status from me. It was my first book by Sonali Dev, but it certainly won’t be my last. Although there don’t appear to be any supporting characters from this book who become main characters in future books of the series, I look forward to seeing what other entertaining stories Ms. Dev has written. show less

I liked this book a lot--I found it a pleasure to read, and very engaging--but I'm having trouble articulating exactly why, now that I've finished it. I think it manages to have a lot of emotional weight because of the hero's (and really the heroine's, though she wouldn't describe it this way) traumatic backstories without being a disturbing book to read. I also think it treats the virginal heroine / sexually-experienced hero trope with sensitivity, thinking about what this individual woman's sexual experiences and thoughts to date mean *to her* and impact her experiences in the novel, instead of making her virginity a turn-on for the hero or her defining characteristic or why she's better than other women or whatever. Plus the food show more descriptions are gorgeous, and since the heroine's a vegetarian and I am too, it all sounds reeeeallly good to me :) show less

A Bollywood Affair
4 Stars

Married at the age of 4, Malvika "Mili" Rathod hasn't seen her husband for 20 years. Nevertheless, her married status has enabled her to achieve a freedom that other girls from her small village in India have been denied. Now if only her husband would come for her, Mili's life would be complete. Unfortunately, said husband has moved on with his life and needs an annulment. Enter his brother, Samir "Sam" Rathod, Bollywood's sexiest bad boy director, who travels to Michigan to confront Mili and get her to sign on the dotted line. What ensues is a delightful story of mistaken identity, yummy Indian cuisine and a romance for the ages . . .

The best word to describe this book is "cute". Sam's reformed rake persona show more will be familiar to any reader of historical romance, and it is great to see him falling so hard for Mili. Mili is a total Mary Sue but in such a sweet and caring way. Her klutzy moments only add to her charm. Sam and Mili's friends-to-lovers romance is enchanting and they have excellent chemistry together.

Usually, the dreaded keeping secrets trope is a complete no-no for me. Thankfully, Somali Dev manages to overcome its pitfalls as it makes sense in the storyline and never had me waiting for the other shoe to drop. Moreover, the manner in which it comes to light is very matter-of-fact and the ensuing drama and angst only enhance the romance.

The supporting cast is also great and some of the interactions, especially with Sam's family, are laugh-out-loud hilarious. It all made me think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but set in India.

On a final note, I started out listening to the audiobook but had to stop halfway through. While Priya Ayyar's Indian accent is engaging, her male and female voices sound the same. This is problematic in a romance, especially as Sam is supposedly a huge guy with a deep baritone, but he sounds like a young girl.

All in all, this is highly recommended for lovers of food and romance. Warning - do not read this book when you are hungry. show less

I found Mili to be an immensely appealing heroine, but I wasn't nearly as keen on Samir. (Is this going to be a pattern ...?) The story & language are particularly melodramatic, but Dev makes it work rather well; I flew through this one. I hear the sequel is even more purple. I CAN'T WAIT.

Mili was four when she got married in a ceremony in the small Indian village where she lives with her grandmother. Though she's worked to go to college and finally to America, she still dreams of her husband finally coming to claim her. Meanwhile, that husband, thinking the marriage was annulled years ago, has remarried and is expecting a child. He sends his brother Samir, a well-known Bollywood director, to get Mili to sign the annulment papers, and when Samir and Mili meet all sorts of hijinks ensue.

I get the sense from looking over responses to this book that I missed some of the nods to Bollywood in this story. I like Mili and enjoyed the slow burn of her romance as she falls in love while feeling like she shouldn't. Samir took me show more longer to warm up to. He is a playboy and rough around the edges, a bit too bossy and arrogant though with a good heart. The details about Indian culture and food rounded out the story nicely, and actually I was interested in learning a bit more about the laws surrounding child marriages, but I suppose getting too into that would've made this a different story altogether. Pleasant reading, and when I'm in the right mood I'll pick up another of Sonali Dev's romances. show less

Originally posted at The Bookaholic Cat

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev is such a perfect book that you NEED to read it, the end. Not enough to convince you? Greedy people!

Milli Rathod was married to a boy (Virat Rathod) from her little village, when she was only four years old. Couple of days after the wedding, Virat and his family moved to a city, leaving Milli behind with her grandmother. For twenty years, Milli has been patiently waiting for her husband to come claim her. She has used her time wisely, getting an education and working on improving herself, all to be the perfect modern wife “her husband needs”.
Milli gets the chance to go to Michigan on a scholarship; a trip she hopes will change her life. Maybe, if Virat learns show more about it he will come sooner to make her his wife.
Virat thought his marriage to Milli was annulled many years back and has never thought of Milli. He is married to a woman he loves and they are expecting their first child together; but after he suffers an accident he learns the marriage with Milli was never annulled and his current marriage would not be valid unless he convinces Milli to sign the annulment documents. Due to his accident, Virat can’t travel. He asks his younger brother, Samir to travel to Michigan in his stead and to convince Milli to sign the documents.
Samir will do anything for his brother; even tricking the woman he believes is extorting his brother, but when he arrives to Michigan the woman he finds is not what he was imagining her to be.
Coincidences will bring Milli and Samir together, to an arrangement of mutual benefit. What starts as a simply friendship soon develops into much more; but they are both keeping secrets that could destroy their new bond.

Milli is a great heroine. She’s a woman that despite her limitations (thanks to her very traditional upbringing) has done the best she could with her life. She has worked hard to get educated and to be better, not only for her, but with the idea of helping other women in the future. Milli is selfless, noble, generous, smart and funny. She’s simply a delightful heroine.

Samir is a conflicted character, it’s almost as if he is two different persons, the public man and the family man. The public man is modern and doesn’t want any entanglements. The family man is caring, loving and bighearted. He loves to take care of those he loves and he shows it over and over again during the course of the story.

Samir and Milli’s relationship starts slowly. First, it’s a companionship, then, it turns into a friendship and from there, feelings start to bloom. Their relationship is packed with small gestures and little details, making their romance feel beautiful and sweet, but there is a problem, both of them are keeping secrets and when they come to light their love get tested.

The secondary characters bring color to the story, especially Milli’s best friend, Ridhi and her over the top Punjabi family. The Indian culture also plays an important role with its contrasting traditions and family values.

Sonali Dev’s writing is emotional, fluid, and vivid. Her words are easily visualized and experienced. A Bollywood Affair is so masterfully written is difficult to believe it is her debut novel.

One thing I have to talk about is the food. OMG! The Food!! As I said before, Sonali’s words are very vivid and food plays an important role in the story. This book made me Hungry! Yes, with capital H. As an Indian food lover, page after page this book kept me salivating and dreaming of samosas, rotis, curries, and so many more delicacies. Nom nom.

If there is a book contemporary romance fans need to read this year that is A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev. Trust me, order this book and read it. I can guarantee you you won’t regret it. show less