It's tit for tat, isn't it?
Lady De compares Adiga's book-venture to a Bollywood movie-project :
But wait. Mumbai has become a hot destination for expat writers. Mumbai is hot! Just like Bollywood has gone nuts over picturesque Delhi and decided Delhi is hot. These days our lives have been greatly simplified, thanks to the “hot” handle. Everything and everyone is conveniently classified under two categories — Hot and Not Hot.
Lady De comapres Adiga's calculations to those of a daily-soap-maker's : Adiga’s story is structured like a television soap, with neatly demarcated good guys and bad guys, plus a Hindu, Muslim, Christian “Amar, Akbar, Anthony” thrown in for good measure.
Lady De concludes the review making almost a literary-critical point :
... the biggest villain of the book is Mumbai. And if I am disturbed by its brutal portrayal, it is because I find it a bit too simplistic and naive — the Big Bad City. So wicked, so ruthless, so ugly. That’s a writer’s prerogative. Perhaps that’s how Mumbai does appear to those who don’t call it home.
The complete review can be found here. Ms De blogs here.
We hope that the De review leads to a spat of reviews which would culminate in the founding of a school of criticism that would do justice to the Adiga brand of Indian Writing in English.
Lady De comapres Adiga's calculations to those of a daily-soap-maker's : 
