Age of Vice Summary, Characters and Themes
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor is a gripping blend of crime thriller and literary fiction, set in the high-stakes world of power, politics, and corruption in North India.
Set against the backdrop of socioeconomic disparity, the novel follows three central characters: Sunny Wadia, a wealthy mafia heir; Neda Kapoor, a bold journalist entangled in his world; and Ajay, a man of humble beginnings, drawn into a life of violence and crime. Kapoor’s novel explores loyalty, ambition, and betrayal in a morally bankrupt society, where the pursuit of power often comes at the cost of one’s soul.
Summary
In 2004, a chilling event unfolds on a freezing night in Delhi—Gautam Rathore, a privileged son of a politician, carelessly runs his Mercedes over five homeless people. While the victims die instantly, Gautam is let off the hook without consequences.
Instead, Ajay, the loyal bodyguard and driver of Gautam’s friend Sunny Wadia, is framed for the crime. At Sunny’s request, Ajay accepts the blame and is sent to prison, awaiting trial.
Ajay’s blind loyalty to Sunny stems from a past riddled with trauma. Born into a destitute Dalit family in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Ajay’s life is shaped by early tragedies. His father is brutally beaten to death by local strongmen, the Singh brothers, and his sister Hema is sexually assaulted.
These events lead to Ajay being sold into servitude as a child. Years later, he meets Sunny Wadia, the charming heir of one of Delhi’s wealthiest families, while working in a Himalayan town. Seeing Sunny as a beacon of opportunity, Ajay follows him to Delhi, gradually rising through the ranks in the Wadia household to become Sunny’s most trusted confidant.
Despite Ajay’s devotion, the world he’s entered is steeped in corruption and greed. Sunny’s father, Bunty Wadia, and Ram Singh, the crooked Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, run a monopoly over the state’s businesses.
Vicky Wadia, Bunty’s brother, is even more dangerous, operating a web of criminal enterprises, including human trafficking.
A visit to Vicky’s operations brings Ajay face-to-face with his past. He discovers that the Singh brothers, responsible for his family’s ruin, now work for Vicky. Vicky promises Ajay a chance for revenge, but only when it suits his own agenda.
As Sunny’s relationship with journalist Neda Kapoor deepens, tensions rise between him and his father, Bunty. Neda’s investigation into the Wadias’ unethical land grabs further strains their bond.
In retaliation, Bunty arranges for Neda to be threatened and nearly killed. Meanwhile, Sunny’s ambitions to carve out his own path lead him to Gautam Rathore.
But when Gautam turns him down, a confrontation ends with Gautam driving over pedestrians, and Sunny uses this incident to his advantage, manipulating Ajay into taking the fall.
Neda is shipped off to London under Bunty’s threats, unaware she is pregnant. Bunty deceives her into believing Sunny has lost interest in her, leading her to terminate the pregnancy.
As secrets unravel, Sunny discovers Bunty’s lies, and in a bid to break free, he aligns with Dinesh Singh, son of the corrupt Chief Minister. But his troubles deepen when Vicky’s henchman kidnaps Sunny, revealing even darker family secrets.
As the story culminates, Sunny plans a marriage of convenience to secure his future, while Ajay, hardened by his experiences in prison, contemplates escaping this dangerous world.
However, the threads of loyalty, revenge, and power are far from settled, leaving the characters on the brink of even greater turmoil by the end of the novel.
Characters
Ajay
Ajay is one of the central figures in Age of Vice and the character whose journey is most directly shaped by the systemic inequalities and violence of the world around him. Born into a poor Dalit family in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Ajay’s life is marked by tragedy from an early age, with the murder of his father and the assault of his sister by the village’s upper-caste moneylenders, the Singh brothers.
Sold into slavery at the age of eight, Ajay’s fate is determined by the power structures of rural India. His subsequent rise within the Wadia family, becoming Sunny Wadia’s trusted right-hand man, represents both a personal transformation and a loss of innocence.
Ajay’s deference to Sunny stems from the belief that proximity to wealth and power will offer him protection and a better life. However, his loyalty blinds him to the darker truths behind the Wadias’ corruption and violence.
Ajay’s transformation from a loyal servant into an efficient assassin highlights the dehumanizing effects of systemic violence. His gradual emotional disintegration is mirrored in his increasing involvement in murder and crime, ultimately leaving him hollow.
Ajay’s suppressed childhood trauma resurfaces when he revisits his village, reminding him of the violence that has shaped his entire life. His longing for vengeance against the Singh brothers and his sister’s survival reveal the deep scars left by his past.
By the novel’s end, Ajay’s journey comes full circle as he tries to take control of his own life by fleeing Delhi. Though it remains uncertain whether he will be able to escape the forces that have shaped him, his flight suggests a desperate attempt at freedom.
Sunny Wadia
Sunny is a quintessential anti-hero, born into one of the richest families in Delhi and driven by a deep resentment towards his father, Bunty Wadia. Although charismatic and idealistic in his vision for transforming urban spaces, Sunny’s ambitions are ultimately tainted by the same corrupt power structures he seeks to overcome.
His relationship with Ajay is central to his character arc; he both manipulates and depends on Ajay. Sunny sees Ajay as a tool to further his ambitions while also using his loyalty to cover up his own crimes.
Sunny’s complex relationship with his father fuels much of his decision-making. He constantly seeks Bunty’s approval while simultaneously resenting his father’s control.
His romantic involvement with Neda Kapur only deepens the schism between him and Bunty, as Neda represents a threat to the Wadia family’s secret dealings. Sunny’s idealism is undercut by his inability to break free from the power dynamics of his family, leading him to morally questionable acts, including framing Ajay for Gautam Rathore’s crime.
By the end of the novel, Sunny’s moral compromises lead to his engagement to Farah Dhillon for money and power. This signals his full immersion into the very world he once despised, marking his fall into the corrupt system he sought to escape.
Neda Kapur
Neda Kapur serves as the moral conscience of the novel, though she is not immune to the seductions of power and wealth that define the Wadias’ world. As a journalist, Neda is deeply committed to uncovering the truth, particularly regarding the slum demolitions orchestrated by Bunty Wadia’s real estate empire.
Her intelligence and investigative nature place her in direct conflict with the Wadias, particularly Bunty, who sees her as a threat to the family’s interests. Despite her professional ethics, Neda becomes romantically entangled with Sunny, complicating her role as a journalist and as a character.
Neda’s emotional vulnerability is exposed through her relationship with Sunny, as she develops a deep attachment to him despite the moral ambiguities surrounding his actions. Her pregnancy and subsequent abortion in London, orchestrated by Bunty’s manipulation, reveal the extent to which she becomes a pawn in the larger power struggles of the Wadia family.
Throughout the novel, Neda grapples with her own complicity in the world she is investigating. Torn between her personal feelings for Sunny and her professional duty, Neda’s character embodies the difficulty of maintaining integrity in a corrupt and violent society.
Bunty Wadia
Bunty Wadia is the patriarch of the Wadia family and a symbol of entrenched political and economic power in North India. As a businessman and political operator, Bunty works closely with the corrupt Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Singh, to monopolize the state’s wealth.
His wealth and influence allow him to operate above the law, manipulating events and people to serve his interests. Bunty’s relationship with his son Sunny is fraught with tension, as Bunty disapproves of Sunny’s idealistic vision and his relationship with Neda.
Bunty’s character is defined by his pragmatism and ruthless pursuit of power, often using violence and coercion to maintain his empire. His treatment of Neda, including sending her to London and lying about Sunny’s feelings for her, illustrates his willingness to control those around him, even at the expense of his son’s happiness.
Bunty’s eventual downfall, orchestrated by his own brother Vicky and the corrupt political system he helped build, reflects the precarious nature of power. His death at the hands of Sunil Rastogi marks the end of his dominance, but his legacy of corruption continues to haunt his family.
Vicky Wadia
Vicky Wadia is perhaps the most sinister character in the novel, representing the extreme end of the Wadias’ corrupt power. While Bunty operates within the legal and political framework, Vicky engages in outright criminality, running human trafficking operations and other illegal enterprises in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
His role as a “godman” adds a layer of hypocrisy to his actions, as he uses religious authority to mask his violent and unethical dealings. Vicky’s control over Ajay through threats to his sister Hema further reveals his manipulative and sadistic nature.
He promises Ajay vengeance against the Singh brothers but only as part of his own power games. Vicky’s suggestion that he may be Sunny’s biological father adds a new dimension to the familial tensions within the Wadia family, further complicating Sunny’s relationship with Bunty.
Vicky’s orchestration of Bunty’s assassination cements his role as the ultimate antagonist in the novel, a figure who thrives on chaos and violence.
Gautam Rathore
Gautam Rathore, the spoiled son of a royal-turned-politician, is a secondary character whose actions set off the novel’s central conflict. His reckless driving and the subsequent cover-up of the Mercedes killings highlight the impunity of the wealthy and powerful in Indian society.
Gautam’s character is emblematic of privilege without responsibility; he is irresponsible, entitled, and ultimately indifferent to the consequences of his actions. His friendship with Sunny Wadia places him at the center of the novel’s moral decay, as he represents the selfish and destructive impulses of the elite.
Gautam’s role in the novel, while limited, serves as a catalyst for the events that unfold. Particularly in terms of Ajay’s involvement in the crime and the widening rift between Sunny and his father, Gautam’s actions drive much of the chaos that follows.
Themes
The Corrosive Power of Wealth and Socioeconomic Inequality as Drivers of Moral Disintegration
In Age of Vice, Deepti Kapoor delves deeply into the destructive influence of wealth and socioeconomic inequality, not merely as backdrops to the characters’ lives, but as the very forces that shape their moral trajectories. The Wadias’ vast wealth, amassed through corrupt deals, violent monopolies, and the exploitation of the poor, drives every action in the novel.
From Sunny Wadia’s dangerous aspirations to his father Bunty’s ruthless domination of state politics, the novel shows how wealth not only consolidates power but also dissolves any semblance of moral clarity. Wealth transforms individuals, whether in the cases of Bunty or Sunny, into embodiments of corruption, where relationships are transactional, and emotions are suppressed to maintain control.
In contrast, characters like Ajay, born into abject poverty, embody the extremes of socioeconomic inequality, navigating a world where poverty means perpetual vulnerability. The novel sharply critiques how poverty and wealth conspire to leave individuals with no real moral agency, forcing them into choices driven by the need to survive in a system rigged against them.
The theme illustrates the stark truth that in Kapoor’s fictional world, and by extension the real one, economic status dictates not just one’s access to power, but one’s access to basic humanity, where the price of survival often includes the destruction of one’s own moral compass.
The Entrapment of Aspirational Desire and the Illusion of Social Mobility
The notion of aspirational desire, particularly the fantasy of transcending class and status, functions as an elaborate trap in Age of Vice. Sunny Wadia, with all his wealth and privilege, embodies a constant desire for more—more power, more validation from his father, and more control over the urban landscapes of New Delhi.
For him, aspiration is endless and ultimately hollow, resulting in a cycle of decisions that continuously erode his sense of identity. Similarly, Ajay’s journey reflects the darker side of aspiration, one that is grounded in the false promises of social mobility.
His belief that Sunny can transform his life leads him deeper into a vortex of violence and moral compromise. Kapoor explores how aspirational desires—whether rooted in economic or emotional fulfillment—are ultimately illusions when individuals are bound by the rigid structures of class, caste, and corruption.
In this sense, Age of Vice critiques the myth of upward mobility by illustrating how aspiration is weaponized by those in power to keep the disenfranchised trapped in servitude, all the while offering them the mirage of a better future.
The Complex Interplay of Personal and Political Corruption in a Post-Colonial State
The novel intricately weaves personal and political corruption, demonstrating how the decay of personal integrity is inseparable from the decay of the state. Characters like Bunty Wadia and Ram Singh exemplify the profound symbiosis between personal gain and political power, where the boundaries between individual ambition and national governance blur to the point of indistinction.
This collapse of personal and political morality is seen in the novel’s focus on the Wadia family’s manipulation of state resources, where private family rivalries and power struggles determine the fates of millions in Uttar Pradesh and beyond. Bunty’s collaboration with the Chief Minister and his eventual downfall through the machinations of his own son and nephew signal that corruption is not an incidental by-product of power—it is its very foundation.
The novel critiques the post-colonial Indian state, where the colonial structures of control have merely been replaced by local oligarchs like the Wadias, whose unchecked power ensures that true democracy and justice remain distant ideals. The corruption in the novel is multi-faceted, infiltrating institutions, politics, and personal relationships alike, reinforcing the idea that individual morality cannot survive in a system that is fundamentally and systemically broken.
The Trauma of Caste Oppression and the Legacy of Historical Violence
Ajay’s character arc is anchored in the deep trauma of caste oppression, which Kapoor uses to explore the ways in which historical violence continues to shape the present. Born into a Dalit family, Ajay’s suffering is not only physical but psychological, rooted in a society that perpetuates violence against the lower castes as a form of systemic control.
His father’s death at the hands of the village’s upper-caste headmen and the sexual violence inflicted on his sister Hema are not merely personal tragedies—they are emblematic of a broader, historical cycle of caste-based violence that reverberates through the novel. Kapoor uses Ajay’s journey to draw attention to the ways in which caste continues to operate as a central mechanism of oppression in contemporary India, even as characters like Sunny and Neda move in circles of wealth and privilege.
The contrast between the cosmopolitan spaces occupied by the Wadias and Ajay’s violent, caste-ridden village life reveals how caste oppression, far from being eradicated in post-colonial India, has morphed into a more insidious form of violence, one that links historical trauma with modern-day exploitation.
The Deconstruction of Traditional Masculinity and the Crisis of Paternal Authority
Age of Vice offers a powerful critique of traditional forms of masculinity, particularly as they relate to paternal authority and the broader cultural expectations of male power and control. Bunty Wadia’s control over Sunny and the state of Uttar Pradesh, coupled with Vicky Wadia’s hyper-violent persona, reflect the ways in which paternal figures in the novel are not merely authority figures but gatekeepers of a toxic form of masculinity that prizes domination above all.
Sunny’s troubled relationship with his father reveals how male identity in the novel is forged in the shadow of paternal expectations. His desperate need for Bunty’s approval and his final act of betrayal mirror a larger crisis of masculinity, where the desire for power leads to self-destruction. Similarly, Ajay’s deference to Sunny initially stems from his own lack of a father figure, complicating the traditional notion of male loyalty.
However, as Ajay’s own experiences of violence deepen, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the patriarchal structures that have shaped his life. Through these character dynamics, Kapoor questions the very notion of power as a masculine ideal, suggesting that the crisis of paternal authority in the novel reflects a larger societal reckoning with the failures of patriarchal systems.
The Disintegration of the Self Through Violence and the Loss of Identity
Throughout Age of Vice, violence is not just a physical act but a corrosive force that disintegrates the very core of an individual’s identity. Ajay’s descent into becoming an efficient assassin for the Wadias, particularly under Vicky’s control, showcases the ways in which violence strips away layers of humanity, reducing him to a mere tool for others’ power plays.
Ajay’s transformation from a hopeful young man seeking a better life into a shell of his former self is emblematic of the broader theme that violence, in all its forms—physical, emotional, structural—erodes identity. Sunny, too, experiences a parallel form of disintegration.
His involvement in Gautam’s crime and subsequent machinations reveal how his thirst for control and validation destroys his sense of self, leaving him a broken man by the novel’s end. Kapoor’s portrayal of violence is thus multi-dimensional, showing how it not only ravages bodies but dismantles minds and souls, leaving characters alienated from themselves and their pasts.