Book review | ‘The Chippendales Murders’ or how not to get away with murder

Kumail Nanjiani plays Somen Banerjee with a steely determination who only breaks into a smile at the sight of money in the show 'Welcome to Chippendales'.

The Chippendales Murders, written by K Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca, opens with the murder of the Emmy-winning choreographer Nick De Noia, whereas in Welcome to Chippendales, the Hulu series based on the non-fiction book, an Indian man, named Somen Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani), is verbally and physically abused by two shoplifters at a convenience store in the United States. While the authors tell the story of a selfish entrepreneur by collecting the facts and presenting them with journalistic vigour, the creator Robert Siegel sells the same story by slowly building tension around the entrepreneur’s unprecedented rise and fall.

'The Chippendales Murders'; K Scot Macdonald & Patrick Montesdeoca; Hachette India; 320 pages; Rs 599.

Nanjiani plays Banerjee with a steely determination who only breaks into a smile at the sight of money in Welcome to Chippendales. And money, at the end of the day, is what becomes the bone of contention, as he detests sharing it with others. When he learns that his bar wouldn’t have become a global sensation without De Noia (Murray Bartlett) at the helm, he orders Ray Colon (Robin de Jesús) to snuff him out by hiring a killer.

Well, Banerjee also detests sharing fame; he wants to be remembered as the one-man army behind the strip club. If just the performances and the ensuing drama are taken into consideration, I’d say that the best part about the show is Bartlett. He’s in fine form as a carefree choreographer who’s always working on bigger and better plans. And he delivers his lines with a certain kind of panache as though his sole job is to entertain everybody around him. Ironically, this truism must have irked the original Banerjee, as well.

Still, the show is not nearly half as delicious as the book and I’ll tell you why. The most fascinating aspect of The Chippendales Murders is embedded in the details regarding the cat-and-mouse chase in which some FBI agents try to get Banerjee to confess to the crimes he has committed on tape. Since Banerjee is too much of a coward to stalk his victims with the notion of revenge coursing through his veins, he uses his money to get others to make his dreams come true. All he has to do is make sure that his grisly ideas do not get traced back to him. However, they do get traced back to him, albeit in a foreign nation.

After Colon gets arrested, he works with the FBI to help them get the things that are required to build a strong case against Banerjee. But he finds it pretty hard to keep his hope alive, as the latter stops communicating with him. Banerjee distances himself from Colon by refusing to take his phone calls or replying to his letters. After a long time, however, he agrees to meet his old friend. But even when Colon insists that he’s not wearing a wire in order to trap him, Banerjee’s suspicions never die down. This is the actual soul of The Chippendales Murders and the show stays away from capturing this spellbinding angle.

Although the closing episode deals with the arrest of Banerjee, it does not have enough zing in it. Moreover, it doesn’t let you take a peek at the collective moves made by the FBI and Colon. If you keep the book aside and just watch the show, you will not be able to grasp the depth of Banerjee’s sinisterness. The way I look at it, The Chippendales Murders is several leagues ahead of its adaptation and offers an unintended message on the ills of greed. And this is where it frankly scores a goal.