The Vegetarian, Han Kang - Book Review

There’s always something special about reading a Booker Prize winning novel (see the last Booker novel I reviewed https://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida-shehan.html). We are very aware from the beginning that the book is critically acclaimed, and therefore know that there’s a high chance that lay-people like us, will either not relate to it, or will not like it. Imagine then my anticipation and guarded approach to a novel that is not just a Man Booker International Prize winner (2016), but also the Nobel Prize in Literature winner (2024).

The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeong-hye and her immediate family, and how her one decision of turning into a vegetarian and giving up all kind of meat, turns her and her family’s life completely upside down, triggering a series of disruptive incidents that pulls her and the people closest to her in different directions, and sets them on a profound and irreversible path towards destruction or redemption or both.

Did I like the book? I’ve realised that this is a difficult question to answer for a Booker novel. If ‘liking’ a book means did I enjoy reading it, was it entertaining, did it bring a smile on my face, was there fun and joy in it, the answer is ‘No’. But if ‘liking’ a book means did it move us, shake us, disrupt us, shock us, gave us an insight into the world and its many complex facets that we otherwise don’t see in our own livesthen the answer is an overwhelming ‘Yes’.

The story is told in three parts, each narrated in the first person by different protagonists in the story. The first part (The Vegetarian), is from the perspective of Mr. Cheong, Yeong-hye’s husband, who watches in frustration as his married life transforms from a highly ordinary one to a shockingly extra-ordinary one, as his wife slowly fades away from food, relationships, life and sanity. The second part (Mongolian Mark), is from the perspective of Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law (her sister’s husband), a wayward mal-adjusted artist, who becomes obsessed with the idea of creating an erotic masterpiece of body-painting and videography of Yeong-hye and himself, delivering the artistic satisfaction that had been eluding him all this while, but also ending his family forever. The third and the final part (Flaming Trees), is from the perspective of In-hye, Yeong-hye’s sister, who, now as a single mom, becomes the only care-giver for her sister, now in a psychiatric hospital, trying in-vain to rescue her from slowly decaying because of her refusal to eat anything at all; and in the process, finally giving into her own life’s pain, helplessness and imprisonment .

While it takes a while to really get into the book, taking some time to feel the translated Korean writing, the cultural context, and the slightly-bizarre story, it quickly has us hooked into a very subtle but deep reality of our modern day urban lives and the absurdity of the choices we make, who’s disastrous consequences we suffer all our lives. The magic of the book is that it moves from something completely un-relatable to something that is so-relatable that we eventually know it’s a story about all of us. The central premise of the story is a commentary on how far and disconnected man has become from not only nature but everything organic and real on this planet. In line with Yuval Noah Harari’s premise of our biology out of sync with our history, the book comments on the completely un-natural construct of our society that fundamentally conflicts with our animal nature. It shows us the mirror on the fact that despite years of championing individuality and personal choice, in essence we are still a society that promotes falling-in-line and choosing accepted norms, and has zero tolerance for a truly different path in life. The book digs up the inherent dark-ness hidden behind closed doors, from misogyny to child abuse to sexual dissatisfaction and dysfunctional relationships.  

The fact that the novel is from of Seoul, perhaps the poster child for a 20th century developed Asian economy model, is extremely poignant. Seeing this along with other award winning Korean content (eg. Parasite, Train to Busan, even the last Korean book I read, Almond by Sohn Wong-Pyung), one can’t help feeling it as a potential ‘warning sign’ for the rest of us Asian countries, of how “not to”become a developed nation, 2047 or whenever! What’s that quote that says ‘don’t confuse development with progress’.

As the story comes to an end, the main thought we are left behind with and perhaps the biggest truth of our lives, is that of ENTROPY. Entropy is where our universe began and entropy is where it is headed. We know that the more we try to bring order and control to our lives, the more it slips away into disorder, randomness and uncertainty. The seemingly logical choices we make everyday only exacerbates the irreversibility of this entropy. And whether we like it or not, we are rapidly hurtling down a path of no-return. And the sooner we realise the inevitability of this truth, the sooner we can be free….  And that’s the genius and the award-worthiness of this fascinating novel.

A Complete Unknown, 2024 - Film Review

“How many roads must a man walk down, before you could call him a man”, might just be the most defining question that everyone lives with everyday in every generation, from the beginning of time. And yet it takes a genius poet to call it out in a way that makes it the iconic question of all times. And a cult song for our hearts.

A Complete Unknown, is the story of the early making years of the legend, the icon, and the only songwriter to win the Nobel prize for literature, the one and only Bob Dylan. Set between the period 1961-1965, the film depicts the journey of Bobby Dylan, beginning with him coming to New York from small town America to play folk music, connecting with his folk music icon Woody Guthrie, taken under his wing by Pete Seeger to grow the independent folk music culture against the backdrop of a troubled time in American history, at the peak of Cold War, Nam, Kennedy assassination, Cuba, and other related tumultuous events. As America transforms during this period, so does Bob Dylan and his music, as he follows his own path in music culture, across ups and downs in his personal and professional relationships, setting the foundation years for the legacy music of Bob Dylan, as we know today, influenced and shaped by key personalities and talents of the day like Joan Baez, Johnny Cash,  Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie.

For all Bob Dylan fans, this movie is a must-watch. For many of us, who listened ardently to his music in our youth, we know what his music has meant to us. His music has been part of our identity making, being not only the wise counsel for our confused minds, but also an irreverent truth-shaming of a world that fundamentally makes no sense. As we stepped into the world of adult-hood, when he sang ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, he reminded us that not only are we a ‘complete unknown’ in the crowd, but so are the supposed adults who are running the world. When we were unsure about how to manage our relationships, and balance our own selfishness with respect for our women, we had Just Like a Woman telling us just that. In our dark times, when nothing made any sense and we were ready to quit, he gave us a crying shoulder in ‘Knockin on Heaven’s Door’, letting us get it all out, so we could get back to our life the next morning. When we got smug and confident in things we are doing, achieving, winning, he reminded us not to get too arrogant or become part of the same world that didn’t make sense just a few years ago by singing ‘The Times They Are a Changing’. And, (and this one is my most favourite), as we grew up and got busy with our busy modern lives, making money, having a family, and playing our part in the running of this world, he left us with the most beautiful prayer and wish that can be called nothing short of a guide for how to live your life, in Forever Young’, a poem that is still my facebook cover.

The film captures beautifully a unique time in America, which itself is going through an identity crisis, even as the youth of that generation are going through theirs. During a time when the entire zeitgeist was asking more questions than getting answers, Bob Dylan’s coming of age and coming of fame is perfectly intertwined and almost an inevitability. His journey of a gradual and very natural evolution from a folk music singer to almost a prophet of his time is brilliantly captured. Even as his folk music mentors and peers look with aghast and betrayal at Dylan’s journey, we see how this could be the only path for him. Because Dylan is special. He is built differently from the rest. He follows his own path, listens to the rhythm of his own soul, sees what others don’t, feels what others can’t. And that’s why he must go, he has to move on, he cannot give Sylvie the love and commitment she wants from him, he cannot play to the crowd and be a partner-in-crime to Joan Baez. Inherently an explorer, a contrarian, an independent mind, and a free spirit, Dylan was born this way. 

All the actors are brilliant, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie, Monica Barbaro as the talented Joan Baez, all deliver authentic and powerful performances. But above all Timothy Chalamet hits it out of the park. He is Bob Dylan incarnate. This young talented actor once again impresses us with potently profound portrayal of the legend that is Bob Dylan. Fantastic! 

This film is a brilliant and a perfect ode to his music, immersing us in this world, making us move with joy and soul, as we not only enjoy the music we’ve known and loved for years, but also feel the entire context of when and how the music was created, completing the picture and the experience for us. Perhaps this film was the missing puzzle in our personal Bob Dylan journey that has now been plugged in. And for that, we say thank you. A celebration and a 2.5 hours immersion into the world of Bob Dylan, his music and his times. Nothing like it. Enjoy it.. Thank you James Mangold for making this film and bringing back Dylan in our lives again after all these years. It feels like we need him once again, more than ever!

As we finish the reflection on the question posed in the beginning ‘how many roads must a man walk down’, we are rightfully reminded by the song and the movie itself, that it is always the questions that make the difference, the questions that change the world, the questions that move us forward, because ‘the answer my friend is always blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind’  

Conclave, 2024 - Movie Review

The Oscar fever begins with one of the nominees of this year’s best picture, Conclave, hitting the screens for all of us movie buffs to celebrate the season of Hollywood’s best (allegedly). 

The film revolves around the political intrigue and drama that ensues after the sudden and unexpected death of the Pope, towards electing the next head of the most important Christian institution in the world, with a momentous gathering of all the cardinals from around the world. As the Conclave begins, and the voting starts, the desire for power amongst the most popular candidates is blatantly on display, the ugly politics within the most sacred institution is shamelessly seen, and the very human fallibility of these supposed holy messengers of God is exposed one by one, leading to a potential crisis of the lack of a clear leader, but eventually the choice of an unexpected-but-the-right Holy Father.

In many ways, the film is the perfect reflection of the reality of our times. (In fact, as we watch this in February 2025, it’s an extremely eery ‘art mimics life and life mimics art’ moment, where the Pope has actually been taken severely ill, as I write this!). A time, when the biggest war being fought in the world today is not Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas, but the war between Liberals and Conservatives. This is a war that is being fought in every single country in the world, by every single society, within every single family and amongst every single group of friends. What till a few years ago was an individual choice of a way of life, has escalated into the most fundamental ‘us vs. them ’ in all of our lives. And with most democracies around the world pivoting to the right, it seems like this conversation (conflict? War?) is going to be one of the most defining themes of the coming decade (if not longer).

In this context, the the point of view that the film propagates (as one would expect Hollywood from LA to) hits the mark in a poignant way. Perhaps the best and the most defining scene in the film is the opening speech of the Conclave, that Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) delivers. His message of a hope for a new Pope that is human and fallible, who operates with doubt and rejects dogma, is the moment that captures in a few words, the essence of what being a liberal is all about. In making certainty the main enemy of mankind and celebrating doubt as a virtue, the film nails it.

The talented actors, as expected, deliver stunning performances. Ralph Fiennes as the protagonist brilliantly portrays the role of the dean thrown in the middle of delivering the most important decision in the Catholic world, trying to manage his own conflicts against his duties. Stanley Tucci, as Cardinal Bellini, the power hungry passionate liberal candidate, Lucian Msamati, as the initial most popular black candidate, John Litgow, as the unscrupulous Cardinal Tremblay, Sergio Castellito, as the hard Conservative Cardinal Tedesco, and Isabella Rossellini, as subtle-but-strong Sister Agnes. All of them deliver power packed characters that stay with us much after the film. This coupled with an immersive and Nolan-style cinematography and sound, makes for a good theatre-watching movie.

However, despite all this, as the film ends after the final climax is revealed (with the predictable victory for the liberal school of thought) we walk out feeling under-whelmed and un-moved. It’s the feeling of having been on a deeply engaging and emotional conversation with a really close friend, but after the conversation ended, feeling unheard or unsatisfied, resulting in not only us not getting closer, but actually pulling us a little bit apart. 

This is because of two failings in the film. One, after having made the case for the dire need for liberal and inclusive humanity more than ever (which we cheer for), the film gives very little new perspectives. As a result, for all the liberals watching this film, it ends up preaching to the converted, without offering any new insight or emotion. On the other hand, for all the conservatives watching this film, it is not hard hitting enough to even start an alternate conversation. Even the shaming of Cardinal Tedesco by the lesser known Cardinal Benitez, ends up being a weak attempt at the end.

The second failing of the film is the surprisingly unimpressive story-telling. At the end of the day a movie needs to engage and entertain as much as having a POV. But the long drawn scenes of voting, the lack of engaging dialogues, a missing narrative of what’s happening apart from the inevitable election of the Pope, all leaves us dissatisfied with the time we spent together with this film. Suffice it to say, that we put this film, in the list of the many Oscar films, that we know are there for their political or social view,  but in the end are not films we enjoyed watching. On to the next Oscar nominee…

Kill, 2023, Movie Review

The truth is that there aren't enough good action movies in the world, and even less so in Bollywood, that has always anchored its centre of gravity in romance, drama, comedy and patriotism as its chief genres. And that’s why, once in a while, when a kick-ass action film comes our way, we lap it up like a hungry dog that’s not been fed its favourite meat for days. Kill, directed by the talented writer-director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, now streaming on Disney+Hotstar, is all this and much more. 

The plot is simple. A train from Ranchi to Delhi, gets overtaken by local dacoits with a plan to loot the passengers. Their simple plan goes fast goes out of control when the protagonist, Capt Amrit Rathod and his friend Viresh (both from the NSG), fight back, both to resist the dacoitry as well as to protect Rathod’s girlfriend and her family, who are also traveling in the same train. What ensues is a brutal kill-a-thon as the bad guys start killing vulnerable people in the train including people dear to Rathod, and Rathod returning the compliment 10 times more violent, till the very end.

Simply put the film is “bloody” fantastic. It’s bloody AND it’s fantastic. The action sequences, almost entirely without guns, deliver the adrenaline pumping rush that one desires from an action film. The fights are heart thumping. The killing is violent. The good people dying is heart-breaking. And the vengeance is sweet and intense. Just what we want from a great violent kill-fest, like Kill Bill, or John Wick.

Lakshya, the new actor, as Capt Amrit Rathod, is an absolute joy to watch. As he goes about wrecking hell on the bad guys, single-handedly destroying the entire clan of bandits, we can’t help but cheer and join the crowd that wants each and every of these merciless dacoits to not only die but to suffer in extreme agony before they do. As the trained NSG commando, Lakshya is both believable and impactful. The sheer intensity of his rage and the control of his body language as he lands the punches, is what makes this movie. Raghav Juyal, popularly known as Crockroaxz, from many dance-reality TV shows, is absolutely brilliant as the main bad guy, who we want desperately to get tortured and murdered. The supporting cast do a great job as well to serve as the background against which to enjoy the meaningfulness of the action, with Tanya Maniktala, as Tulika, Rathod’s girlfriend, Ashish Vidyarthi, as the paternal leader of the dacoits pack, and Abhishek Chauhan, as Viresh, Rathod’s best friend.

Even as we relish every head getting smashed, every neck getting sliced, every chest getting pierced, and even a face getting set on fire, we cant help wonder and even feel shocked at our own anger and at the deep-seated violence within us, that is making us enjoy this blood and gore. While at one level it connects us with one of our basest animal instinct of fight (over flight), at another level it gives us a moment of release amidst our bottled-up privileged city lives. And that’s why it’s no wonder that it’s a Karan Johar production. It is meant for us, city-dwellers, living far away from the reality of dacoits and hinterland, far enough to enjoy it as entertainment and not reality. It’s also mildly disturbing to think that in an extremely unequal society of ours, this film celebrates the violence that a relatively upper income side of society (Rathod and his rich and politically connected girlfriend’s family) inflicts on the poorer section of society (the dacoits from Bihar). Yes, the bad guys deserve what they get. But, one can’t help wonder the subtle positioning of who’ s good and who’ s bad. Should we be worried of an emerging trend or narrative of the rich feeling like victims?

Nevertheless, the one hour forty-five minutes on this train to Delhi is literally a ride that is worth every minute. A non-stop no-breather full on power packed experience that we haven’t had in a very long time. Kill, is one of the finest that modern Bollywood can offer and a shot in the arm for an other wise lack-lustre identity crisis that the industry is having. I really hope there is a sequence to Kill (like John Wick and Kill Bill) where the fights get bigger, better, bolder. More power to you Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. 

Why I Got Over Coldplay, January 2025

I was in my first purchased (rather EMI) car after having just started to work, waiting for my then-girlfriend to arrive, before heading out on a date. In those heady days of an early romance, filled with both excitement and insecurities, I remember vividly experiencing the magic of the music that the new-band-on-the-block had created, speaking to my inner battle of love vs loneliness. The year was 2000, the song was Shiver, the album was Parachutes, the band was Coldplay.

This first album was an absolute master-stroke, with their biggest hit, Yellow, that became the most popular entry into what was to become, the phenomenon of Coldplay. As we heard one song after another, we felt it tugging at a side of our hearts that we hadn’t paid attention to all these years. It was a definingly new sound, that gave us a beautiful bittersweet feeling of emptiness, a yearning for love, a nagging of an unfulfilled desire, a state of a life-in-crisis, being one step away from falling back into being alone. BUT equally the music also gave us the feeling of a foolish young optimism, the sting of romance that we scratch again and again, the pleasure and the pain of an unrequited love, and the dream-like assurance of a happy ending that’s just around the corner. 

Here was an artist that got it, what love and life in the new millennium felt like for a young person. And like many others at the time, I was hooked. #Coldplay-for-life.

And yet, 25 years later, even as Coldplay has become the biggest music sensation in the world right now, and against the background of the band finally touring India to overwhelmingly successful concerts, with millions of die-hard fans, I feel the almost-sacrilegious feeling that “I’m over Coldplay, actually”.

As I came to this sudden realisation, when I didn’t bother waiting in online queues for tickets and paying ridiculous prices for scarce ones, I surprised myself and started wondering when and how did this happen. I thought I LOVED Coldplay, how could i get over it.

When I now look back at this 25 year relationship with Coldplay, it seems to have happened slowly over a period of time, a little bit like a long marriage, where the couple, without knowing and wanting it, grow apart and stop being for each other what each of them need or want. Don’t get me wrong. I will still enjoy a drink with a Coldplay song, will groove to it whenever it plays in a bar, sing along when it comes up in a party, and hum the tune once in a while in the shower. But it doesn’t have the same place as it did in my heart till a few years ago.

As Coldplay put out the second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head in 2002, their winning music continued to hit the spot. I realised why their music was so addictive. It was the “magic of melancholy music”. The band knew what we feel like when we are alone, and when no one is watching. They could speak to us deep down. Their music didn’t just get our minds and feet moving, but they got our soul to echo back to their sounds. Don’t Panic, Shiver, Sparks, Parachutes, We Never Change, Everything’s not Lost from their first album. In My Place, The Scientist, Clocks, Warning Sign, Amsterdam from the second album. Fix You from their third (X&Y, 2005). They all hit that melancholy spot in our hearts, perfectly.

But as they became bigger and more popular, their music moved from what they were imagining to possibly what people wanted to hear more of. There became a very subtle and gradual shift from the complex emotion of melancholy to a more uni-dimensional emotion of celebration. The turn of the decade and perhaps a post recession world, saw this change starting from their 5th 2011 Album Mylo Xyloto, with their superhit Paradise. As they tasted mass success, this shift towards a more pop exploration of love continued. The album Ghost Stories, 2014, gave us Magic and Sky Full of Stars. If I were to pin point the time when this transformation was complete, I would say 2015, with the album A Head Full of Dreams. With songs like Hymn for the Weekend, Adventure of a Lifetime, Coldplay was no longer being described by the album covers and music journals as ‘alternative’. Coldplay was a full blown pop sensation, and everybody loved them. Post COVID, with many collab songs like My Universe with BTS, Something Just like This with Chainsmokers, and solos like Higher Power,  the band just took off to become one of the most popular band of the current generation, who could do no wrong.

It’s not that the music they have created in the last few years is not good. It’s just that it’s not what the promise of their music is. Melancholy and Celebration are fundamentally opposite paradigms. One is an introverted emotion, the other a social experience. One is to soak your soul into, the other is to move your body to. One is about how I feel, the other is about what I’m doing. And with so much Celebration music in our lives anyway, the unique space that Coldplay had to fill the melancholy void of our lives, is unfortunately gone forever. And, as the music of the soul transformed into the dance of the many, I can’t help feeling a sense of betrayal at the original contract we had with the band and their music. The contract that said ‘You get me, you see me, and that’s enough’.

And now, 25 years later, even as I move to the Coldplay music along with a large group of friends, with a drink in my hand, I find myself reaching out once again for their first album.. enjoying momentarily the idea of how far we’ve come and yet lamenting at how much we’ve lost.. 

A Year in Books, 2024

 So much to read.. and so little time.. 

January - The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman - As per tradition, started the year with a murder mystery, to fight the post holiday blues. Third in the Thursday Murder Club series, where the murders get more brutal, the septuagenarian main characters we love get bolder, the plots get more intricate, and yet the overall joy and impact gets weaker. After the deeply enjoyable first one, these next two have been a little meh, falling between neither being a page-turning crime thriller nor being a warm affectionate look at retired-but-super-active British sleuths.

April - Bad Luck and Trouble, Lee Child - The eleventh book in the super successful Jack Reacher series, ahead of watching Season 2 on prime video, based on this novel. What appeals is the raw avenging very old-school masculine character that wants to make his personal world right and make the bad guys pay. But this story misses the mark by a mile. With an intention to bring back characters and connection to his hitherto unexplored past life, to tell an action packed story in the present, the plot fails to deliver the intrigue, the action, the adrenaline and the pleasure of pop fiction that we expect from a Jack Reacher novel.

May - Modi and India, 2024 and the Battle for Bharat, Rahul Shivshankar, Siddhartha Talya - Appropriate timing, reading this during the elections in the largest democracy in the world, with a deliberate intent of an intellectual experiment to read a right-of-centre narrative (how right you ask!) to see the other side. The book makes a compelling case that by painting the right as only wrong, we miss the opportunity to have a more balanced perspective in Indian politics. But not as compelling as the final results we saw the Indian voter deliver, which only reinforced all our collective faith in the power and the relevance of democracy in an increasingly un-democratic world.

July - The Shining, Stephen King - Finally got around to reading this iconic thriller from the master story teller, and even after all the hype and high expectations, the book delivers and hits the spot, and how. King is a master at crafting characters with deep emotional complexity that manifests in the spooky events which unfold in the storyline. A child with psychic energy (aka ‘the shining’), a recovering alcoholic borderline-abusive father, a mother with a troubled childhood, all trapped in a haunted hotel with decades of sinister history. What more do you need to tell one of the best scary stories ever written.

August - The Book of Compassion, Pooja Pande - “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of”, crooned Dionne Warwick. This book, as I proudly say written by my sister, is both timely, as a reminder to each one of us amidst a feeling of losing our way in the world; as well as timeless, in that the very foundation of humanity is the spirit of compassion. The genius of the book is in the simple definition of compassion being ‘empathy in action’ which is all we need to not only live our own lives in a fulfiling way but also to transform the world we live in. 

August - Before the Cofffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated Geoffrey Trousselot - A year in books is not complete without a Japanese novel. And this one hit the spot for that unique Japanese storytelling fix that we need from time to time. True to style, the characters are nuanced, the story telling is slow and immersive, and a lot more happens inside the minds and hearts of the characters than in the actual story. Only a Japanese author can tell the story of time travelling where you don’t even leave the chair you’re sitting on in a coffee shop! 

October - And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie, Audiobook/Audible - The book I listened to, to satisfy a craving for Agatha Christie. One of my all time favourites, and hadn’t read in a while, decided to listen to this one after all these years. While the narrator was not as impactful as he could’ve been, the story is so powerful, that once again it left me with awe at the brilliance of this writer, still the queen of crime novels. No one comes close. Ten unsuspecting strangers trapped on an island, being murdered one by one, till there are none. Masterpiece!

October - Mythos, Stephen Fry, Audiobook/Audible - Continuing the audiobook streak, having read this book 5 years ago, wanted to “re-read” this one. Narrated by the inimitable Fry himself, in his characteristic British style, listening to this one is a sheer delight. Telling the stories of the Greek Mythology from the very beginning, against a broad timeline, this book is the most authoritative and entertaining compendium to understand the very human Gods of this culture, that have had such a wide ranging impact on the stories and the imagination in the whole world.

November - The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society, Joseph Stiglitiz - The book I’ve been waiting to be written finally showed itself in this highly relevant, deeply insightful and superbly provocative text by the Nobel Laureate. Clearly explaining why neo-liberalist capitalism, which has been the dominant economic theory and model across countries for the last 40 odd years, has not delivered and created a highly unequal, unsustainable society we live in today. Arguing that the role of economics is to create a good society, the book makes the case of what the author calls ‘progressive capitalism’ that balances the freedom of a few with the freedom of the many, with a greater and a more specific role for the Government and public institutions.

December - An Eye for an Eye, Jeffrey Archer - Perhaps reading Jeffrey Archer for the first time after college, when he was a rage. Revisitng him (and probably his ghost writers), I decided to revisit this author from our youth, who still seems to be going on. A thriller that spans contemporary politics and business deals, it’s an easy, time-pass, no-gain-no-loss reading that is perhaps a half-decent substitute for watching an in flight movie on a long distance flight. Indeed that’s what it served as, for me.

December - Almond, Sohn Won-Pyung, translated by Joosun Lee - Been meaning to read a Korean author, and this became my first. Growing up story of a boy named Yunjae, born with Alexithymia, that doesn’t allow him to feel any emotions like love, fear, anger. After losing his family to a violent crime, it’s the story of his coming of age, building relationships, and finding his way in a world full of emotions that he is unable to access. A poignant and warmly told story that contrasts the boy who cannot feel any emotion (and is yet so deeply human), with the rest of the world that can feel all the emotions, and is yet so deeply inhuman. An easy read, and a good cozy way to end the year.

While I missed my 12 books goal this year, here’s to another year of books and reading. 

Happy New Year 2025. 

Happy Reading.

Gladiator 2, 2024 - Film Review

As an ardent and a generous film viewer, I am well aware of the perils of comparing sequels of original masterpieces. But when you have the same brilliant movie-maker in second one as well, you can’t help but keep your expectations high.

Gladiator 2, coming 24 years after the original oscar-winning magnum opus, tells the story of Hanno (aka Lucius), a daring solider of Numidia, who after getting conquered and enslaved by a Roman slave owner Macrinus, rises the ladder to become a fierce and winning gladiator in the Colosseum games. Set fifteen years later after the events of Gladiator 1, when the brave solider-turned-gladiator Maximus (Russell Crowe) fought to restore the dream of Rome to be a true republic, the state is still in shambles, controlled by ineffective and corrupt emperor brothers, Geta and Caracalla, with the senate and its members either largely impotent or corrupt. As Lucilla (Marcus Aurelius’s daughter, Maximus’s lover) and her current husband, General Acacius try to rescue Rome from its politics, and Macrinus devises his own vile plan to rule Rome, the protagonist Lucius uses his rage to fight the gladiator battles, and the evil rulers, growing ever stronger, and eventually realising his destiny of being the rightful heir to the throne and setting Rome on its visioned path of a great, free, prosperous and just Republic.

Like i said, when you have Ridley Scott directing the sequel after his genius first one, one can’t help expecting an absolute cinematic treat. But, it saddens me to say, that the film disappoints, and on many counts, unfortunately.

Starting with the story. Even though the film starts 15 years later, with a seemingly new character, Hanno (later discovered to be Lucilla’s sent away son Lucius) fighting as ferociously as Maximus did (as we know from first movie to be his father), and a new plot of Rome conquering new lands, it very quickly falls into an exact replica of the first film. Lucius becomes a slave, then a gladiator, and then a leader of all the gladiators, and eventually winning against the bad guys. Sure, there are new and supposedly surprising elements, with the character of Macrinus (Denzel Washington, no less), a former slave and now slave-owner, plotting his own game. But in essence, there is no new story to tell. Classics, when re-told to a new generation, can be powerful, with new interpretations, borrowing from contemporary culture and a topical relevance of what’s happening around the world today. Imagine the potential of telling the story of a movie like Gladiator (the common man’s heroic quest to fight for a fair and just democracy in a world that has lost its way) in 2024, with everything going on around us. But it is not to be. The film ends up being more or less a nostalgic replay of the first story, minus the genius performances by the central actors. Alas!

That brings me to the second disappointment. Paul Mescal, as the protagonist, to be fair, does a decent job of holding his role together. But Gladiator cannot be made with just a decent performance. Gladiator requires a performance of sheer force, brutality, presence, dominance, and gravitas that Russel Crowe had with his performance (for which he deservedly won the oscar). A performance that blew us all away, both in its intensity and and in its subtlety. Mescal, despite his best efforts, misses this by a mile. At best, Mescal feels like a Gen Z-on-a-bad-day version of Maximus - all talk, no impact. The other actors have the same unimpressive performance. The bumbling-almost-queer emperor brothers as the evil power-hungry-but-incompetent-rulers are a far cry from Joaquin Phoenix’s brilliant and emotionally-nuanced portrayal of the evil Commodus. Lucilla, as the un-empowered princess, is a shadow of what the same actress played in the original story. And Denzel Washington, as the conniving Macrinus is an absolute damp squib. Only Pedro Pascal, as General Acacius, gives a solid performance that makes you want to root for him, but it’s not enough to save the overall film.

Finally, the other appeal and one of the reasons we enjoyed Gladiator 1, was the no-holds-barred adrenaline rush of watching human combat in its most raw, ugly and violent form. We’d all be lying to ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge this appeal of the film, despite our high brow pretences of rooting for an Oscar winner! Again, Gladiator 2 fails at creating this impact, despite having so many fight sequences, all set to large screen Dolby music effect. The attacks are there but we don’t feel it, the blood is there but it doesn’t make us squeamish, the rage is there but it doesn’t provoke us, the fight-choreography is there but it doesn’t move us, the arms and ammunition are there but it doesn’t deter us, the horrifying bad guys and their beasts are there, but it doesn’t scare us. As a result, we are left watching a series of what feels like inconsequential fights, leading to an inevitable ending, like we would a WWE match or like we watched Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Meh!

As we walk out of the theatre, we remember that actually this is not the first time that Ridley Scott has let us down. The memories of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are still recent enough to know what this disappointment feels like. And in any case, we are getting used to our heroes and icons letting us down, so just one more on that list. No big deal. And not that it’s going to stop us from coming back and rooting for more, and continuing to believe in the power of good cinema. And in geniuses like Ridley Scott. Just like with everything else in the world, we will keep showing up again and again and again… Till the next time Mr. Scott.