The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star - Vaseem Khan

photo courtesy: goodreads.com

Secrets, social message and a detective with his elephant in tow- great combination.

This delightful series is a joy to read. This is my second one and I was happy to see that the lightheartedness of the previous one is maintained in this one too.

This time however, the focus is on Mumbai's film world - popularly called Bollywood - where Chopra and his elephant associate are called in to investigate a high profile kidnapping.

Gist:

Chopra, an avid lover of Hindi films is called to a yesteryear actress' house after her son goes missing while on stage in full public view. Meanwhile, Rangwalla, the assistant goes undercover after the head of the eunuch community calls in asking for help. 

What works:

• The detective and his elephant work very well together. There are some interesting scenes that make good use of the elephant assistant that make for an entertaining read.

• Using Bollywood as the background makes for an interesting setting. Loved making way into the world of arclights and the secrets that surround the people who live in it.

• Also like the way Khan philosophizes without sounding preachy.

What doesn't:

• The sub mystery did sound a bit "filmy". The ghostly singing in the Haveli is reminiscent of old Hindi movies, I remember watching as a kid. In this fast paced life laced with technology, it sounded a bit dated. Having said that, it did provide an enjoyable diversion to a degree even if it sounded tad unconvincing.

Overall, another light refreshing read a story of lies, secrets set in the glittering world of the Hindi film industry.