Rock and rollercoaster | Review of ‘The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi’ by Sidharth Singh

A rock and roll journey through the 70s and 80s, following journalist Nirvana's quest for the truth about Max Bulandi.

This book will hold instant appeal for those who grew up listening to Elvis, The Beatles, Santana, then graduated to The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. Who read JS… except, in this book, it’s not the iconic Junior Statesman but a popular magazine called the Junior Standard. Who were rebels with and without a cause.

The protagonist of Sidharth Singh’s new novel, The Extraordinary Life of Max Bulandi, goes by the improbable name of Nirvana. He is a not-so-young, first-rate journalist working for a second-rate tabloid in Mumbai, wrestling with his internal demons, doing drugs, and riding a Royal Enfield (of course) named Sally for what else but Mustang Sally. 

He’s also in search of That Good Story and finds it in a back copy of the Junior Standard, in an account of a 70s rock band called The Flow, fronted by a crazy wild guy who goes by the name of Max Bulandi.

And so, Nirvana gets on a self-funded research trip, trying to track down band members Jimmy and Allan Stewart, Jo Nongrem, Timmy Mathur, who wrote the piece up for JS, and finally Max Bulandi’s girlfriend of the time, the British beauty Belinda. This trail moves smoothly and at a languid pace, the Holy Grail here being Max Bulandi’s origin story. At the heart of the narrative is the message that there is life after sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.

Singh adopts a straight-as-an-arrow style as counterpoint to the textured content. There are events regarding the quest unspooling in the foreground, and in the background there’s the politics of the time. The latter tends to overpower the trajectory sometimes but it all comes good in the end. There’s also the grim thread of hard drugs brought into India and sold freely, and many youngsters’ descent into madness. 

If you have come of age in the 70s and 80s, chances are that you have known or consorted with a Max Bulandi. Singh’s Max Bulandi is one interesting character.

The reviewer is a Bengaluru-based author, journalist and manuscript editor.