The Story
As I told you it’s a corporate
drama and the story line starts at Mumbai at one of the biggest FMCG office
BCL. (No guesses for which one it is really). So there is this new and important
product launch for their latest detergent. The Chief Marketing Officer Agastya
is all geared up for it and co-ordinating between their Global head and the
head honchos. Just before the press conference he finds out their arch rival
and competition Stark is launching a similar product the very next day at a
lower price.
All hell breaks loose on the sales and marketing team at BCL. To add to it, Agastya has Maithili, his flame, demanding for merely some 15 crores, failing which she would expose about their affair and escapades (read sexcapades) to his wife Nandita. Now Agastya has 60 minutes to save both his marriage and his high profile job. Maithili, stung with betrayal seeks revenge and wants to turn Agastya’s world upside down both financially and emotionally. She has 60 minutes in hands for it. What will Agastya do? Will he succumb to the crisis or come out? What does one do when your job, assets, marriage are at stake?
All hell breaks loose on the sales and marketing team at BCL. To add to it, Agastya has Maithili, his flame, demanding for merely some 15 crores, failing which she would expose about their affair and escapades (read sexcapades) to his wife Nandita. Now Agastya has 60 minutes to save both his marriage and his high profile job. Maithili, stung with betrayal seeks revenge and wants to turn Agastya’s world upside down both financially and emotionally. She has 60 minutes in hands for it. What will Agastya do? Will he succumb to the crisis or come out? What does one do when your job, assets, marriage are at stake?
My Thoughts
This book is a roller coaster
ride. From the pressures of product launch and crisis management at crucial
moment to an illicit affair and a breaking marriage, it offers quite a gamut of
emotions and rush. Being in an FMCG sales and marketing division myself I
totally could resonate with the rush of a product launch and the trouble that a
competition product can pose on the day of a product launch. I thought it was a
little too detailed though.
Everything is fair in love and
war and these days it’s not always ethics or morals that matter. Now coming to
the title 60 Minutes I thought the
entire story line would be within a span of 60 minutes, but it’s not quite
that. It goes into flash back often without any order that too. Maithili is the
woman with the enigma. I quite liked how she meets Agastya at Geoffrey’s and how
they go in for a crazy drive in their cars. I somehow quite liked Maithili!!!
Now if you are quite aware of the
FMCG situation in India then you would know this is a typical case of HUL &
P&G fighting it out in the middle with below the belt punches. It’s nice
how you weave a story around it. Well, some places I thought it got dragged but
otherwise it a nice breezy read.
About the Author
As you would have guessed already
Upendra Namburi is an ex corporate guy who has now taken up the pen. His debut
novel 31 was a bestseller. He has done a good job to weave a story around the
mean corporate world. You can read more about him here.
My Rating – 3 out of 5. It a nice weekend read.
| BOOK DETAILS | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Westland |
| Publication Year | 2014 June |
| ISBN-13 | 9789384030247 |
| ISBN-10 | 9384030244 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | 1st |
| Binding | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | 372 Pages |
| Price | 350/- |
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