In the midst of numerous authors trying their hand at writing a 'masterpiece' (a five point someone)in the romance genre, Ashwin Sanghi is a whiff of fresh air who dared to dabble in a genre as niche as anthropological thriller. His third novel 'The Krishna Key' has led to him being labelled the 'Dan Brown' of India. I am yet to read his first two novels viz. The Rozabel Line and Chanakya's Chant, and so won't comment on them. His latest, and the most popular novel, was bought by one of my dear friends and that allowed me to judge whether Ashwin really qualifies to be the Indian version of a sensation like Brown.
The answer is NO.
An archaeologist is killed in his home in a brutal manner and his friend Ravi Mohan Saini, the protagonist of the novel, is accused of the murder. He escapes from the custody with his research scholar Priya in a bid to clear his name and find the killer before he uncovers the ancient secret of Krishna leaving a trail of dead bodies behind him.
Ashwin has literally followed Brown's steps in sketching the characters, proceedings and the plot. A murder in the beginning, an academician as the protagonist, a skeptical law enforcer, a cold blooded killer, a figure in the shadows and finally a quest to find an ages old secret - this novel has all the necessary ingredients of a typical Brown thriller. But this cocktail lacks substance and from midway the novel begins to disintegrate.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in the novel is that it lets go of any coherency and logic post midway. The character development takes a backseat, the action becomes overtly dramatic and the plot is completely lost. Especially towards the end the novel stops making any sense with climax being completely humdrum.
One of the problems with Sanghi here is that he had a lot of information from history and mythology at his disposal and he had forced all of that in the novel. Almost every prominent character is an authority on Krishna as well as Indian mythology & history, and so after every few pages, the reader is provided with a heavy dose of information by some character. The information often lacks coherency and facts are repeated throughout the novel without adding any significance to the plot. In the end you become a victim of information overload.
Sanghi is also guilty of failing to do justice to the principal characters. Unlike Brown, he has presented the backstory of most the characters which is one of the highlights of the novel. But then he abandons them somewhere in the middle and the readers slowly lose interest in them. The novel becomes too filmy towards the end with a dull and confusing climax. But by then the reader hardly cares for it.
Those who haven't read Dan Brown might find it interesting. For the others it is a letdown.
