The Comeback : A Novel

Riding high on the success of his first major film actor John K. lets his ego get the better of him and says too much in a fateful interview. The fallout shatters the life of his college friend Asghar Abbasi. Disgraced unemployed his marriage in jeopardy Asghar’s stable middle-class life is thrust into crisis. Broken but unbowed Asghar retreats to his hometown Baansa where he rediscovers his true calling—the stage.<br><br>Devastated by the betrayal he is determined to cut John out of his life; John while remorseful is equally determined to claw his way back in. As Asghar’s grassroots small-town theatre takes off John’s star begins to dim leaving him stuck in a career that pays the bills but is artistically stultifying. On the outside and desperate to be part of Asghar’s theatre comeback John is forced to discover the limits of his self-centredness and confront his ego the shallow allure of fame and the false hierarchies of the arts. <br><br>Restrained and incisive <i>The Comeback</i> is a story of the price of betrayal friendship and forgiveness second chances and the transformative power of art.