Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)So I finally did it! I read it. About half way though the book I realized that when I was done, I was going to sit and type a long email reviewing the book. But then I realized that the Back Seat is more than just your regular novel; in some strange way, its an experience. Where do I begin? Do I tell you that strangely I related to Nikita in the most oddest of ways? I felt her loneliness, her need to be wanted and accepted even. And that is strange considering that she is a bar dancer after all. Or should I tell you that while I complain to you nearly everyday about how much I miss Mumbai, the descriptions of the city only made me more nostalgic. I could hear the noisy traffic, the hot monsoon rain and the intensity that is Mumbai. In fact I think that was what I loved most about the Back Seat. The fact that even if you had never been to Mumbai in your life, your descriptions were so deep and graphic, you were immediately sucked in and put in the middle of Colaba only to become a part of the novel as a bystander even. I simply adored how the book is basically a Bollywood film in words. There's pretty much everything you can ask for, a book filled with anger, passion, love, make up sessions and a bit of erotica - and no one doesn't want some erotica. All I needed was a song or two and I would have been in heaven! While I simply adored Nikita, I couldn't help but realize that every single person in the book had a reason for being there. What would the Back Seat be without any of them? Basically nothing. Shashank was a necessity for the relationship of Nikita and Vijay to progress into one that was beyond a bar dancer and driver. Which brings me to the one of the highlights of the Back Seat: the Nikita-Vijay angle. By far, theirs is one of extreme passion in a secretive way. That very secrecy was what kept me going; the anticipation of what would happen next kept me turning pages. Would they get caught? Or would Nikita realize she wanted money over love?
But but but, Back Seat is Nikita all the way. If there was an award for best performance in a lead female role for novels, Nikita would win and how! She is just one of characters that you immediately gravitate towards because she is not afraid of anything. She loves who she is, even if she is a bar dancer. Strangely, she even has morals in a weird sense of the way. But her zest for the good life is what I admired most. Irrespective of what progressed in the novel, good, bad, beautiful or ugly, all I became concerned about was Nikita. And I know you're looking for the book to become a film (crossing fingers) and I guarantee if I was an actress, I'd do a number of auditions for the role.
The Back Seat is a real hard-hitting novel. As a reader you cant help but relate to one, several or all of the characters in one way or another. You are faced with a reality that is true but not necessarily relatable in our lives because of our societal status. Bar dancer or not, you realize how hard it must have been for those women who are not only tagged with an ill-reputation but are then thrown out of work with no credentials behind them. Such insight was much-needed for ignorant readers like myself. What I personally took away from the novel is more love for the city of Mumbai and a trait or two from Nikita.
I look forward to reading more from you and hopefully soon. Until then, power and more power to you. Congrats Aditya, you've proved yourself and how with Back Seat. I believe and know you are destined for bigger and greater things. All the best!
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Back Seat: A Mumbai Tale
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