There’s nothing like a timely yarn. Parinda Joshi’s Power Play rides high on the IPL wave. Inspired by events in the wake of turmoil in the management of a major league baseball team in the U.S., Joshi mounts the plot on a cricket setting in India. The plot is quite racy and makes for a great single-sitting read.
Vivek Grewal, an incredibly handsome, uber-successful professional working for a mergers and acquisitions firm in Mumbai, is militantly passionate about cricket, in particular the Ahmedabad Rangers, whose fortunes are in a tailspin. One evening, he decides to effect a takeover of the team and convinces his buddy Harsh, a business magnate from Bangalore, to buy the team. With Harsh in tow, Vivek lands at Ahmedabad and goes in for the kill.
In the meantime, the scene at the Rangers’ office is not cheerful in the least. Keya Singhal, the marketing strategist, is hoping that things will shape up and that careers won’t be laid on the sacrificial altar. And did I mention that she is beautiful, sharp and sensitive? Naturally her path crosses that of Vivek’s and they fall in love.
But hold on! She’s the first casualty of the restructuring. So obviously she can’t stand the sight of Vivek for a while. When Cupid finally strikes, it is a suitably special moment. But with a tantrum-prone cricketer, a nervy Harsh, and an erratic Vivek, there is some turbulence ahead.
Joshi is careful not to slip into the formula trap or lean on clichés. However certain characters, like Vivek’s over-enthusiastic assistant Omar who is the butt of the team’s jokes, or the ever-optimistic Rosh, Keya’s neighbour, seemed unnecessary. Despite minor quibbles, Powerplay is a fun offering from a promising writer.
Extract:
It must have gone really well from that point on, for Vivek never realized when the discussion turned to more pleasurable topics. His love for books, her incomplete manuscript, his travel schedule, her incomplete travel, his Punjabi parents, her Punjabi parents... They had more in common than he would have imagined.