Author
Vinod Pande
Publisher
Mahaveer Publishers
Date
November 1, 2013
Final Verdict
2.5/5

About the Author

Vinod Pande is a producer, writer, editor and award-winning director whose body of work includes films such as Ek Baar Phir (1979), Yeh Nazdikeeyan (1982) and Sins (2005) among many others. He has also made popular TV shows such as Airhostess (1985-86) and Reporter (1992-97). He worked as programming head for Sahara TV (1997-2000). “The Don’s Wife” marks his debut as a published author.

About the Don’s Wife

When I was offered to read and review Don’s Wife, I was pretty excited. A thriller, centred on the murder of the wife of a notorious don, Kamini at the front door of her own house, the book starts off on a relatively promising note. With the murder and the frenzy that it causes, the author makes you want to read further in the book.

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After the murder, the book goes into a flashback, which deals with the rise of Kamini from a simple girl to Don’s Wife and politician. Her personal journey, tumultuous relationships and Passion for her work are explored in detail. Having rebelled against her parents to marry the Son of the feared Don, Kamini goes against everything that society deems right to pursue her relationship with Harsh.

When due to circumstances her husband has to take on the mantle of being “Bhai”, she accepts that and stands by his side, even when he has to abandon her and flee the country. Broken by his betrayals and multiple affairs finally she finds Love, and defiantly gives in to her heart’s desires, knowing well the consequences. What follows is a saga of Heroes, Villains and tales of betrayals and relationships with unquestionable faith.

The Author Vinod Pande is a filmmaker and that is clearly obvious through the pages and the narration of the book. The Story is very strong and has a lot of potential, and Kamini is a very beautiful, strong and well-written character.

Having said that there are a few things that I did not like about the book too, for instance, the author uses sex to show the love between the characters and there are various scenes depicting sexual encounters between Kamini and Harsh and Kamini and Jayant which neither help nor hamper the story. Especially the scenes about Harsh’s sexual indiscretions in detail could have been avoided as they only make the book seem sleazy and make the story take a backseat.

In chapter 6 Harsh’s mood swings are mentioned, which are critical to the development of his personality but no explanation is given, letting confusion set in about Harsh and his personality. Later the Paedophilia scene explains a lot about harsh and his psychological problems related to sex, but the scene itself shows Harsh in a very bad light. Especially the use of the word “Homo”, though not wrong in terms of characterisation, could have been avoided because any other swear word would have had a similar effect.

Other than these issues the story is a very powerful one, centred on a very powerful character Kamini. This is a story that has a lot of potential and could have been made more interesting and thrilling had there been a sole concentration on the plot.

Picture of Jaibala Rao

Jaibala Rao

12 Responses

  1. Being a person who belongs to the film industry, is there an influence of that in the way he writes? I guess I will keep this book in mind & read it when time permits. Enjoyed the review. 🙂

  2. Another great review Jaibala! I love the way you analyse the story without giving away too many details. Need to learn the art 🙂

    1. Thank You Sundari….that is a huge compliment for me…thanks a lot and I am glad you like my reviews….it just makes me want to work harder and do better next time. 🙂

  3. As usual a lovely Review Jaibala. I liked Kamini’s character the best in this story. As Sundari says.. your reviews are becoming the toast of the town. Looking forward for the next one 🙂

  4. Though I suppose an author should not come out with his reaction to a critical reflection on his work and that too so soon, please allow me to thank you for truly a beautiful re
    view of my book. I have my take on sexuality in any narrative, of course especially in mine, but you never took me on this on the questions you sent me Jaibala.

    1. Sir, I usually like to keep my interviews and reviews separate, one is specially to showcase you and your feelings about the work and one is to showcase my feelings about it. I do not like to personally attack an author and give space for his feelings in interviews. This is my view, of course you might disagree 🙂

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