Compelling storytelling about the underworld

Narration gripped me from the first few seconds itself. Some parts could have been narrated better. But overall it was an amazing listen. Some stories were previously unheard of and were quite shocking. It is a definite recommendation.

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Entertaining catalog

As Zaidi himself says in the author's note - these are accounts from the past when not much details were preserved in order particularly on the mafia and women. At least unlike the digital age.

Radhika Apte, Kalki Koechlin and Rajkumar Rao's narrations fetch an overall 5-star to a 4-star work of literature.

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Radhika is remarkable!!! Rest can be ignored.

The first part, story of Gangu bai is brilliant. What makes it ethereal is Radhika Apte's voice. She has this perfect voice for audio books and I am addicted to her. Rest of the book..I can't judge because I am leaving in the middle. I didn't like Kalki's voice at all. It is raspy and lacking the needed emotions. What is more babbling is Rajkumar's reading. I don't know what happened there? I have heard his narration before and he is remarkable. But not here.
Now bout the book, I couldn't exactly sympathize with any of the characters neither feel empowered. I have nothing to take from any of these except gangu bai. All these women have done irreparable damage to society. No doubt their rise to the power is spell binding. Yet, I would never side myself with any of the characters. My mind is too chastised for these. They did what they could have not done. All the lives lost due to drugs, arms, docait, terrorism - I see no reason read about them. Or even glorify them. Everyone comes to a point I their life where they have to make a choice. They lose someone they never thought they could live without. That never means they would launch themselves into a killing spree. Just because you don't have money at your house, doesn't mean you would start smuggling. Yes, the author is not directly sympathizing with these women, but writing a whole book about them...this itself is manifestation of his fascination towards them.

Go for the book if you want good Indian fiction and you don't think much about good vs bad all the time. Because it filled with nasty shit being on pedestal all the time.

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Travel day book

Loved it. The book is great but the audiobook version was immersive and almost felt like being transported to the times bygone.

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Guns and Roses

A wonderful journey into the Mafia world of Mumbai, introducing the Ladies who made it big in the men's world. The narrators did an amazing job of bringing the emotions behind the story and mesmerising from the beginning to the end. Kalki stands tall above all else !!

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6 people found this helpful

Trip to the underworld

i really liked the way these stories are told in the book. It is more informational than plots. i don't mind that as long as the facts are correct. a lot of interesting bits that tell you about the otherwise hidden world of mafia.

narrators are pretty good. the added music fx definitely adds value to the audio storytelling experience.

recommended if you want a tiny peek of the underworld.

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A good collection.

The stories appears to be true in facts, nicely covered with time references and names.
The naration is excellent and keeps you interested in listening.

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Wonderful experience listening to some dark story

Loved it the best part is just like listening to music one can plug in and stay calm and hear the stories..

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Excellent story poor narration

The story is just mind boggling. The stories of how few women dominated the otherwise Men dominated space is unbelievable. Some of the stories have more masala than a Bollywood movie. The death of Anita, the dark side of having an affair with Abu Salem, being wife of Chota Rajan, a dance bar girl to millionaire are some stories that will never leave your mind.

Coming to tha narration, it just falls flat. The narrators who are real life actors fail to bring in authenticity to the characters and stories.

For someone who have been spoiled by Fantasy Fiction narrators and their brilliant voice modulation, this Audiobook seems pretty basic. If you are a first time listener, you may end of enjoying the book. For seasoned listeners like me, you will feel disappointed.

However, 6hrs is no big time. Enjoy the stories and forget about the narrators.

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excellent

excellent book
voices was clear and given justice to the book characters. I enjoyed listning . thanks to Amazon

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