Anuj Sharma – Google

The makers are clearly very heavily inspired by The Breaking Bad. The build up is quite slow and the humour seems quite forced and out of place. But the show picks up pace in last 3 episodes and the final ten minutes are great. The concept is very promising and I hope they execute it a little better in the next season as all the pieces are in place now. Raj & DK did the same thing with Family Man and I’m hoping that here too Season 2 will be great.

Chaturanga, the second book in the The Baahubali Prequel Trilogy, picks up from the cliffhanger where the first book ended. So yes, you need to read the first book pehle. Thankfully, @itsanandneel has included a quick recap of the story as many readers (like yours truly) might have forgotten the finer details from the first book. The story is pretty simple and as we already know where all the characters will end up it is fascinating to see their journey and to observe the changes that they underwent. Sivagami inches one step closer to the throne of Mahishmati and Kattappa is still torn between his loyalty to the throne and what he believes to be right. The mystery of Gauri Parvat gets a tad bit clearer and the last few chapters take us through the inside of the mystical mountain on a literal rollercoaster. Other pieces on this chessboard like Shivappa, Bijjala, Mahadev, Pattarya, Brihannala are making this game even more complex and interesting. The best part about this book is the very sharp, veiled (or not-so-veiled) political satire and very obvious commentary on the current political situation in the country that Mr. Neelakantan has made throughout the book. This book is not just a fictional story but also a very powerful allegory about all that is happening around us. I wish more people wrote like this. Baat bhi samajhdaar junta tak pahunch jaayegi aur log aapki books jalyaaenge bhi nahi! I heard Mr. Neelakantan talk about the legendary "Malayali Wit and Satire" in a podcast and it is best exemplified in this book. Bhigo bhigo ke pyaar se jootey maare hain. Chaturanga also has a cliffhanger ending and I am eagerly waiting for the third book. I hope Mr. Neelakantan wouldn’t make us wait too long this time as the flow kinda breaks and it feels a bit tedious to recap and realign to the story. I recommend this trilogy to everyone even if you haven’t seen the movies. It is genuinely good world-class Indian Fiction with some epic level storytelling. PS: I heard Mr. Neelakantan mention in an interview that they are planning to turn these books into a Netflix series! Now that’s a reason to live, right there!!!