A Bollywood Affair

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Synopsis

Mili Rathod hasn't seen her husband in twenty years, since the day she was married to him at the age of four. As the years have gone by, she's wondered why he hasn't come to claim her, but she's put all her energy into getting an education, a privilege that isn't afforded to most girls from her rural village but something she managed to talk her grandmother into letting her do. She's also recently traveled to America to study for eight months, all in the hopes that the things she's learning will make her more appealing to her husband, a man to whom she's stayed true all this time and believes that she loves. But when a handsome stranger shows up at her door one day, he makes her begin to question everything she thought she wanted out of life.

Samir Rathod is a top Bollywood writer and director, whose brother, Virat, was married to Mili when they were children. Their family thought the marriage had been annulled, but when they discover it wasn't, it places the status of Virat's current wife and unborn child in jeopardy. After Virat is seriously injured when his plane crashes, Samir volunteers to travel to the States to find Mili and get her to sign the annulment papers. When he arrives at her door, she tries to make a run for it on a rickety bicycle, only to crash, leaving Samir with no choice but to rush her to a nearby clinic. He soon learns that Mili thought he was her roommate's brother, and that since her roommate had just eloped, she has no one else to look after her. Being the gentleman that he is, Samir can't just leave her alone, so he finds himself nursing her back to health, cooking her delicious meals, and even accompanying her to her friend's elaborate Indian wedding. He also quickly discovers that she appears to be the cure for his writer's block, so he decides to keep the real reason for his visit a secret until he can finish the screenplay he's working on. The more time they spend together, the more they begin to fall in love with each other. But when Mili finds out the truth, will she be able to forgive the deception or will their relationship be over?

Review

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 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.

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Sonali Dev

Themes

Opposite Sides of the Track
Tortured Heroes