This book cannot be termed an unputdownable page-turner, yet it kept one going with its easy flow.

It isn’t a thriller, yet it made my heart race a couple of times.

It isn’t a romance, yet it left a warm glow in its wake.

It isn’t a humorous book, yet it evokes a chuckle, particularly in places where the very Indianness makes it all the more relatable.

Bejoy isn’t exactly a college dropout, but the next best thing to that! He is an engineering graduate and hasn’t secured a job through campus placement. The exchange, or rather the non-exchange, between him and his deeply disappointed father is so familiar to the point of being in an Indian drawing room!

His father speaks about him in the third person as if he isn’t present in the room. He speaks to him through his wife. The only things that appear to work for him are his girlfriend Shree and his friend Mo. You would want a person like Mo in your corner.

When Joy comes across an advertisement to participate in the famous Bollywood Quiz, with the prize money of 3 crores, he decides to give it a try. Who better than him to know all about Bollywood? There are some moments in the book when he tries to improve his chances of getting into the hot seat, but his innate sense of justice is brought out when he decides against taking the shortcut.

As I read along, I imagined that Joy would win the prize money like Vikas Swarup’s Q & A (of the Slumdog Millionaire fame). But then, Sourabh wove a curveball I least expected.

The book is not just the journey of Bejoy to the hot seat and beyond. It is a story of failure and hope. It is also a story of friendship and mending relationships. It is also a story of how his love for his favourite actor turns into a business proposition.

Some things that worked well for me are a few dialogues and situations:

His father’s “Pratima, ask your son what he plans to do with all the time he has on his hands now that he cannot hang out on campus with his friends. After all, his friends will be in their offices in a few months from now,” evoked a very realistic picture of a father whose son did not live up to his expectations.

After his small tiff with his girlfriend, Shree, Joy’s observations that Bengalis are brilliant at offering unsolicited solutions to other people’s problems were so realistic and spoke of India as a whole.

I loved the way Mo was firmly in his corner. Such friendships are a blessing. I also liked the way Joy talks about his relationship with God.

I chuckled when Mo calls Joy and says, “Guess what?” The irritation of Joy finding the question a close cousin to “Guess who is this” was very relatable.

I found the ending a tad too predictable, with things falling too neatly into place in the typical all-is-well Bollywood style.

But then, I am not complaining. Sometimes, we need hope and happiness in this world of uncertainty, and you can safely close this book and go to sleep satisfied.

I won this book as part of ‘Pass The Popcorn Blog Hop’ in September 2026, hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed and sponsored by Jaico Publishing House under #EveryConversationMatters blog hop series” powered by authors Sourabh Mukherjee and Puja Mukherjee Khattri