The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka - Book Review

 I hated this book. I loved this book.

The 2022 Booker prize-winning novel by critically acclaimed Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka, is a unique piece of writing that evokes multiple and often conflicting emotions as we turn from one page to the next, as we move from the surreal to the sublime, as we move between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Set in 1990, Karunatilaka packs in a punch with a no holds barred commentary on the sorry state of the socio-political environment in Sri Lanka, in the background of the civil war, linked to the Tamilian vs Sinhalese identity, told beautifully through a fictional story. 

The story is of dead Malinda Almeida, a talented (war) photographer and a closet gay man, who has lived a privileged debauched yet famously dangerous life, both due to his profession and his gender, in the good and bad circles of Colombo. Now dead, and stuck in the in-between for 7 moons before he can be taken by the light (or the evil), depending on how he uses the time he has, the entire story runs through him trying to find out who his murderer is (because he doesn’t remember). He does that by trying to get help from his living pretend-girlfriend Jaki and secret lover Dilan, while also trying to protect them, and simultaneously grappling with his own reality as a ghost, fighting off the evil, navigating a race against time.

I HATED the book because it’s painfully honest about the hypocritical and broken society we live in.  Showing a mirror, it forces us to see the dark, ugly crevices of our lives that we choose to ignore every day just so we can continue to make a living and meet our own selfish individual and family goals. From casinos to prison camps, to war-torn areas, to shady sex corners, to buried bodies in a lake, to corrupt policemen and Govt officials, to political games of profit from war, the book exposes the world as it is, with an ugly naked truth perspective. But it also does it in a cynical, dark way that sometimes is almost too clever for itself, and at times leaves the reader a bit cold. And that’s probably the biggest flaw of the book. After the first quarter of the book (say two out of the 7 moons), when we are impressed with the brilliance of the imagination, storytelling, point of view and wit, the middle half of the book puts a distance between the reader and itself. In that, we are left observing everything that is happening almost as a commentary, missing the all-important connection and empathy with the lead characters. During those pages, we are left with a book that speaks to our minds brilliantly, but not enough to our hearts.

The other thing I missed was for an entire book living in the world of the ghosts, there wasn’t enough new imagination of the dead world. It had scenes and tropes we have seen before, like good ghosts,  bad ones, the evilest one, the final light taking them, ghosts trying to talk to living through a clairvoyant, ghosts getting trained to move things in living world… sounding too much like our all-time favourite and first of its kind Hollywood blockbuster Ghost,  by director Jerry Zucker, starring the groovy Swayze and all-time-sexiest Demi Moore. 

I LOVED the book because of the sheer ambition of the author, Karunatilaka, in commenting on such a wide array of issues that plague contemporary society in general, and Lankan society in particular. Civil war, politics of war, gender inclusion, dysfunctional families, generation gap, middle-class hypocrisy, social class divide, the absurdity of life (and death), geopolitics of money, imperialism including by the victim countries like India, endemic individual apathy of those with resources to do something… I can go on and on.  The book also brings Sri Lanka alive in a beautiful and ugly way. The style of writing is poignant with a dark sense of humor. However, the winning stroke is when the heart-breaking mystery of his murderer is finally revealed, it reminds us that in the end, it’s all our personal demons and ghosts that are the bigger criminals, more than any politician, or terrorist or warmonger.  That’s what gets us all in the end, after all.

The characters in the book are really well-built, especially the protagonist, Maali Almeida, through who’s eyes we see the whole book. The metaphorical digressions through conversations with dead priests, leopards, dogs, tourists, and other dead people and dead animals, add an additional layer of commentary that at times lifts the story, and at other times annoys. And the language and storytelling is impactful, though not always a light or easy read. 

The writing style is like Orhan Pamuk-meets-Douglas Adams. And as that suggests, this book is not everyone’s cup of tea or rather not everyone’s game of poker, if we stay true to the ethos of the book. Let me know if you give it a try, but do it at your own risk.

Avatar The Way of Water 2022, Movie Review

After setting the 3D movement in cinema with the first Avataar movie, which then went on to become the norm in Hollywood, 13 years ago, #AvatarThe WayofWater, brings back the same visual impact, cinematic beauty, imagination, and emotions just the way big cinema is supposed to. 

James Cameron’s second coming of this magnum opus impresses with the same immersive spectacle, even as its ambition is more more modest than the first one. Exactly in the spirit of our times, where the magnificent nature everyday is forcing us humankind to find our modesty. Showing us our place. Reminding us who’s the boss. Again (COVID) and again (climate change) and again (extreme weather all over), and again…

The story begins more than a decade after Jake Scully, now the leader of the N’avi tribe, living  happily ever after with his family of wife Neyitri, two sons (Neteyam and Lo’ak) daughter (Tuk) and adopted kids (Kiri and human boy Spider, Colonel Miles Quartrich’s son left behind on Pandora, after being defeated by Jake in the first film). And once again, the humans (or the sky people,) with their nothing-has-changed ambition to colonise the planet Pandora, send Quartrich as a N’avi clone with a bunch of other clones, as troops to kill Jake Scully and conquer their land…. And as it turns out the sea. We meet a new tribe of the water people, the Metkayina, and the same old story is repeated. 

Not a new story you say? But that’s classic Cameron isn’t it? Think the Aliens series, the Terminator series, Titanic, Abyss. The prowess of his film making is never about the plot , it’s always about the concept. It’s never about the story,  but about the story telling. It’s never about the cleverness, always about emotions. It’s never about the pace, always about the idea that needs to be lived with. And most importantly, it’s not about the characters in the film, but about how they make you feel as an audience. 

And that’s precisely why it’s always larger than life. Because that’s what it takes to make us feel what the movie wants us to feel.

Avatar The Way of Water, wants us to feel four primary emotions, which hit the spot, perfectly. One, a collective hatred for imperialism, that increasingly is being called out as perhaps the single  biggest evil of humanity, responsible for all the mess we are in. Two, a collective love for nature, with an urgency to live in harmony with it, on “its” terms, not ours. Three, a personal appreciation of the things that really matter in our lives, our family and our friends. And four, a personal commitment to the roles each of us individually and uniquely can play in the service of our community. And it’s these four emotions that make the film both timeless in essence and yet highly timely for our lives today. 

And the way it makes us feel, is through the sheer beauty of the art that is on display, in all its colourful splendour, presented in the form of 3D. Cameron takes full advantage of all the tech advancement in the last decade to lift his craft to an almost VR-like experience for a full three hour joy ride. (The game version likely to be coming out anytime now).  It’s like after the first Avataar, he asked the question: what’s more beautiful than the forest? The answer, is the ocean, of course.

Yes, it’s a bit long. Because when was the last time we ever sat still for a whole 3 hours! (3 hours 10 mins to be precise). In the era of 30 mins to 60 mins episodes on our favourite OTT channels, 5-10 seconds brain dumbing insta reels, and quick scrolls of all content, James Cameron demands our full time and attention and emotions in Avataar, Way of Water.  The film asks us to stop, feel and appreciate. Because all good things like that need time. And I, for one, felt it was absolutely worth it. 

My advice: Watch it in theatres or don’t watch it at all. 

With the forest and the ocean done, I can’t wait for the next alternate-Nat Geo world that Cameron will seek to create. The dessert? The mountains? Or May be even urban jungles? May be we need to wait another 13 years. Because after all, all good things take time.  

Rings of Power (Amazon Prime), House of Dragon (HBO/Hotstar) - Season 1 - Review

It is understandable for our times that we only want to tell stories of the past. The hide and seek that the future is playing with us, is quite frustrating to say the least and we can all agree that the future is becoming increasingly unreliable. Is COVID gone or not? Is the Ukraine war ever going to end? Will Xi consider retiring? Is Rishi Sunak Indian? Is Musk going to buy Twitter? (Okay we know the answer to that one… or do we? well, we may never know!)

And that’s why we are all happy time travelling, way back to spend time with something as sure as history, because we know it happened. And what better than history of our favourite fiction, because that we know for sure, happened and no amount of right wing propaganda can make you believe otherwise.

And just for that, as a fan, it’s enjoyable and recommended to watch these two prequels occurring over hundreds of years before the main stories we have loved and binge read and watched. Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

Past is a beautiful indulgence for those paralyzed by the future.

But there is one small problem. This history that is supposed to inform these prequels was never really written as such by their original creators (Tolkien and Martin). It is the new writers piecing puzzles of history based on different shreds of writing linked to these mythical worlds created by these genius creators.

To be fair that IS after all, a classic historian’s job. Except this is fiction, dear friends. And to write the history for a fictional master piece, it needs to match the same genius imagination of the original writers.

Alas, it does not.

For House of Dragons, we shouldn’t be surprised. We all saw the last season when George R R Martin had stopped writing. And Rings of Power, fails similarly with no Tolkien to fall back upon.

And so, in the Amazon multi-million dollar production, we see similar sights and sounds of the fallen Men, the noble Elves, the proud Dwarfs, the nomadic version of the Hobbits (called Harfoots), and of course the evil Orcs army and land being built in preparation of the as always winter-is-coming Sauron. Oooh. Never seen that before.

And in the HBO production, we see the dragons, the Targaryen, the Valyrians, the politics, the blood, the sleaze, the violence, the deceit, the gross-ness and the as always who-will-sit-on-the-the-most-uncomfortable-chair-in-the-world game. Sound familiar?

Though, sometimes just seeing more of the same can be deeply enjoyable (aka Friends Reunion, see my review http://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2021/06/friends-reunion-streaming-on-zee-5.html ) because we’ve been missing it. But both these don’t cut it for that too. And one big reason for it is the casting. Both these prequels have actors playing legendary characters that make no impact and are almost borderline annoying. Morfydd Clark, as Galadriel is an overly angry young woman, Robert Aramayo as Elrond comes across as a meek pushover, Charlie Vickers as Halbrand, is a wishy washy build up of what ends up being a critical character at the end, Markella Kavenagh as the Frodo replacement generates no empathy, Daniel Weyman as Gandalf metoo has no inner strength, Cynthia Robinson as Queen Regent Miriel is unconvincing, Joseph Mawle as Adar the Orc army creator generates no fear. Similarly, Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targarean, the central character is not able to pull off the poignant life she lives, Matt Smith as Daemon has no presence as the impulsive angry prince, Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent has only a single pained expression for the myriad of emotions she goes through.

That’s why, the actors that do stand out amidst a sea of mediocre performances are Owain Arthur as Dwarf Prince Durin, and Sophia Nomvete as Disa his wife. Paddy Considine as King Viserys (one feels all his emotions throughout the season till his last breath) and Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys (who emotes through her face with fewest dialogues).

Perhaps the challenge is while the writing is of the past, the writers that are writing it belong to the present and so are the audience they are writing for. And in trying to tell an old story for a new audience, they are able to do justice to neither.

May be the new writers should go back-to-the-future and not try to rewrite history. And use history only as a guidance of what was to define what can be. After all, the future is where we need all the imagination we can get. Otherwise we are all scr***d. And if Tom Cruise can do it (http://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2022/07/top-gun-maverick-2022-film-review.html ), so can many new writers and film makers.

We don’t have much expectations from Season 2 of both these, but we will still wait eagerly for them, because hope currently IS our primary future strategy in the world.

Top Gun: Maverick, 2022, Film Review

Finally got a chance to pen this down

Predictable, cliched, stereotypical, seen-there-done-that

And YET Damn! The movie flies higher and faster than the new-age fighter jets featured in it.. and How!

Just like a really well made Bollywood (or these days pan Indian) masala movie that we still love and crave for, and walk out with a paisa-vasool feeling, #TopGunMaverick is classic Hollywood fare, fully worth-a-COVID-risk-theatre-outing. 

In a world that oscillates between one extreme of right-wing-conservative-nationalism and the other of utterly-confused-highly politically correct-liberalism, Tom Cruise strikes the perfect sweet spot, stubbornly refusing to fall prey to either of these narratives, delivering what, in the end, really matters - having a good time in the moment. Entertainment, we used to call it. 

The film is set 30 years after the original iconic Top Gun, where Pete Mitchell (aka Maverick) is still a captain, having left teaching at the academy and choosing to stay a pilot on different fighter jet programmes over the years. When he is called back to the Top Gun academy to train the newest batch of the best navy fighter pilots in the world (including his best mate Goose’s son) for what seems like a suicide mission, the memories and emotions of the first movie mix with the reality and adrenalin of the present day training, to create a perfect story telling leading to an action packed and paisa-vasool climax and ending. 

Tom Cruise plays his role brilliantly. It’s his movie all the way, just like the original, and despite all the fan fare, you have to give it to this guy. He stays anachronistically timeless. He still plays volleyball shirtless giving the youngsters with abs, a run for their creatine-whey-steroid bods. He still  races the jet on his high powered motorcycle (notice I didn’t call it a bike!). He still drives the million dollar jets recklessly and without fear of consequence. And better than anyone else can. He still gets fired again and is asked back again, because no one else can do what he can. He still walks the talk, leading from the front. He still cares for his students and his peers. He still carries the guilt of Goose’s death, seeking redemption by protecting his son. He is still single and trying to get together with a woman he likes (Penny, played gorgeously by Jennifer Connelly). In essence, Tom Cruise as Maverick and as himself, portrays this very old school macho heroism with such an earnest authenticity, that we can’t help loving it and lapping it all up. 

And that’s why it’s just easy and perhaps even lazy to say this movie works because of a big nostalgia effect, which as we know, is one of the most widespread defining emotion of our times. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be seeing hoards of youngsters today seeing it and loving it (yes meme-ing it means they love it!). 

No, the movie works because of its simplicity and authenticity. It’s a Hollywood classic with a new chapter in 2022, speaking to both the old and a new audience, but without completely changing itself and without trying to be someone it’s not. And that is the genius of Tom Cruise and his second coming. 

Much like his character, Maverick, who refuses to grow up or change his ways, as the maker of the movie also, he obstinately refuses to acknowledge the cynical ageing of our world, holding on to the classic values of heroism, pursuit of passion, loyalty, legacy, brotherhood, courage, resilience, and love. And shows us that it may be 30 years later (36 to be precise!), but even today we are still moved by these emotions. We still want to be better. We still want to believe. 

Even the Millennials and Gen Z! 

Who knows, may be there is still hope for us as human-kind after all!

The Power Of The Dog - Film Review

From critically acclaimed director Jane Campion comes the new ‘it’ oscar-nominated movie of the year, #The Power of The Dog. 

The only thing that the Academy loves more than musicals, is a period drama. And more importantly, a period drama that tells a modern narrative. And it makes sense too. Because there is a unique power in re-visiting the past to show the way into the future. After all, that’s what the purpose of history is, right? To know where we’ve come from so that we know where we’re going.

The Power of The Dog is a magnificent attempt to do this and almost gets it.. till it doesn’t.

The movie is set in a ranch in Montana, the USA of 1925, owned by the rich and respected Burbank family, run by the two sons, the very alpha Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), and the older and more open George Burbank (Jesse Plemons). When George falls in love with a poorer widow Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst), and brings her home, Phil’s disapproval creates tension in the family, which escalates further when Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smit McPhee), training to be a surgeon, comes to live with them in the ranch. While shy and effeminate Peter is initially targeted and bullied by the very macho cowboy Phil, over time Phil develops a liking for Peter and takes him under his wing to train him. As Phil’s secret from the past is revealed to Peter, through an accidental discovery during an escapade, they get closer to each other, much to Rose’s dislike, only made worse by her alcoholism, all finally building towards a dramatic though unexpected twist in the end.

The heart of the film is in the right place. The mission is a noble one. The performances by each of the actors are brilliant. And Jane Campion’s grand telling with the sights, the sounds, and the emotions of each character is truly worth applause. For most of the film, we are taken in by the depth of the storytelling, the nuances of the expressions of the actors, the texture of the Montana ranch, and the point-in-time of American history when the urbanization was still relatively new. The many complex layers of social structure in transition are depicted beautifully. The dynamic between the urban Burbank parents and their rural Burbank sons is poignant. The conflict between the naive romantic George and the cynically bitter Phil is poetic. The contrast between the apparently weak and needing-to-be-protected Peter and his quiet-cold-calmness is ominous. And most importantly, the subtle sexuality, the critique of false machismo (indeed the power of the dog), and homophobia, that eventually becomes the central idea is impactful. For all this, The Power of the Dog deserves its place as an Oscar nominee.

But, despite all this, the film misses one important element. A connection to the audience. 

The first half is well made, as we start building our affection for George, as he becomes Rose’s night in shining armor. We start disliking Phil for his overtly derogatory attitude to Peter. We feel sympathy for Rose and Peter, after having lost the man in their house, trying to fend for themselves. But, as the story progresses to reveal more facets of Phil, Rose, and Peter, we lose that bond, not entirely convinced on why these characters are moving in the direction they are. We also get completely consumed by the theatre of the visuals, the close-up treatment of characters and the scenery, the overtly jarring scenes of blood and animals, which, though are nicely done, distract us from building a connection to the story and the characters as they are moving forward. As a result, when the film moves to the twist-in-the-tale climax, instead of going ‘oh wow', we are left somewhere between ‘awe’ and ‘meh’, feeling a disconnect to our own feelings and therefore to the film. 

All in all, not a film for everyone, especially if you’re the one who feels precious about their two hours on the weekend. 

But, if you’re someone like me, trying to catch the oscar films before the awards, to form your own opinion, then go for it. 

I’ve done three so far (Dune, Don’t Look Up), I think another six or seven to go!

The Batman 2022 - Film Review

The beginning of the next telling of our most popular DC superhero. 

For most of our generation the original Batman era was the 1990s Tim Burton Joel Schumacher series, with Jack Nicholson’s defining Joker and Michael Keaton passing the baton to Val Kilmer and George Clooney even, and a popular star-cast ranging from Uma Thurman (Ivy), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Iceman), Jim Carrey (Riddler), Danny Devito (Penguin), Chris O Donnel (Robin), Alicia Silverstone (Bat Girl), Michelle Pfeifer (Catwoman). It was the perfect “pop” Batman series, for the “pop” time of our lives. 

As we went through the next decade of a self-doubting internal journey of re-discovering our society and ourselves through Nolan’s interpretation of the dark knight for our dark times (2005-2012), that became the defining iconography of Batman for times to come. Typical Nolan.

However, the decade that followed (2010’s) belonged to Marvel and as MCU went from strength to strength, DC lost the plot and reflected a confused identity through what was arguably a confusing time (Trump, Brexit, right-wing, Covid, BLM, and whatnot). With the exception of the first Wonder Woman, all of the others (Batman vs. Superman, Justice Leagues, WW84) failed to meet the mark. 

Which brings us to today, as a new decade emerges out of the shambles of the last 2 years. Arguably, one of the darkest times in recent history, for one of the darkest superheroes we will always have. 

Against this backdrop, The Batman 2022 largely hits the spot. 

The plot this time is around Riddler (Paul Dano) as the main villain killing the corrupt high and mighty of Gotham, exposing their deceit and their failed promises of ‘achche din’. As Batman gets caught deeper in the maze that Riddler has set up, Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and Cat woman (Zoe Kravitz) partner him in solving the puzzles, revealing secrets from the past and the present linking the Wayne family, Carmine Falcone, Maroni’s and the Penguin (Collin Farell), finally leading towards a seemingly futile but inevitable journey of saving Gotham from itself.

Director Matt Reeves paints a new vision for Batman. And for that, the film is worth watching. More importantly, it sets a good precedent to see how this series develops with the next few movies. The story is nothing to write home about, the actors do a decent job, though nothing spectacular, and the action is engaging but again nothing we’ve not seen before. But what makes the film is the treatment of it, which shows the director’s ambition. It is the cinematography, the camera movement, and the music that come together to create the impact in the film. 

There is an authenticity about the Gotham that Reeves creates, which is appealing with all its flaws and its darkness. It’s a Gotham that feels real and not a faraway fictional city from the comic books. The young Batman, who is both naive at times and cynical at others, feels more human than a superhero. He is vulnerable, needs help, and gets hurt.  No grand hero, no big happy ending, no applause, no angst, no victory, no heroism. Batman 2022, is in sync with the truth of our times. No one man can save our world, we all need to play our part, as we emerge from the broken pieces of our lives, and re-make our own Gotham, one day at a time. 

And to the burning question, does Robert Pattinson make a good Batman? 

The answer simply, is that this is an entirely irrelevant question. 

For in this new telling of the superhero, it almost does not seem to matter. Matt Reeves’s vision dominates the film and all actors and acts are just mere vehicles to deliver this. 

All in all, it’s a promising start to the next DC chapter. 

With no more MCU to compete with, here’s the possibility of a fresh beginning for the DC franchise. A new Batman, a new vision, a new start. 

Don’t waste it DC and Warner Bros.

The Fame Game Season 1, Netflix, Feb 2022

Fanboy Alert!

For as long as I can remember I have been in love with Madhuri Dixit. But looking back, I now realize that it’s because she was THE queen of Bollywood for the youngest of my years. From my pre-teen years (Tezaab was 1986) to my end of college years (Dil Toh Pagal Hai was 1997), MD, as we called her then, was the most attractive star that gave us many dhak-dhak moments growing up. She was beautiful, talented, and danced like no one has been able to ever since. Like all of our first love, she will continue to have the most special place in our hearts. 

But this review is not about Madhuri. It’s about her latest and after a long time (almost a decade or more) a proper Madhuri content to watch and enjoy. The talent shows with her as the judge and Kalank don’t count!

#thefamegame is a full-on Madhuri spectacle, where she plays the lead protagonist, superstar Anamika Anand, who suddenly disappears after the latest award night show, leaving her family destroyed, her fans in despair, and the police in circles trying to solve the mystery. As the story moves in the present and the flashback (with a run-up of events leading to her disappearance), many characters are built, many secrets are revealed and a plot of who-could-have-kidnapped-Anamika-Anand enfolds. The suspense side of the story runs in parallel to the emotional side of the story, where her perfect-public image is contrasted to her completely imperfect and almost dysfunctional personal life. A troubled marriage, troubled mother, troubled children, troubled ex-lover, and even troubled fans, all intertwine with each other to create an almost-engaging story till the end of the 8th and final episode. 

Overall, it’s a decent OTT watch (not one of the better ones), but for fanboys like me, with Madhuri in every scene, it’s completely worth the money.

Madhuri is a dream, flowing through her role effortlessly. She looks aged but still beautiful, with an elegant presence dominating every scene. Sanjay Kapoor as a shadow of himself is able to hold on to his own, well just about. Manav Kaul, as Anamika’s ex-lover, gives a decent performance. Suhasini Muley as the star-mother is, as always, really good. And the daughter, played by Muskaan Jaferi is decent too. But, apart from Madhuri, the two characters that are a discovery in their brilliant performances are Lakshvir Saran, who plays Avi, the conflicted and angsty son, and Rajshri Deshpande, who plays Shobha Trivedi, the inspector investigating the case. Both play slightly complex characters, dealing with multiple emotions and they both deliver and how.  It is an absolute joy to watch them perform their characters.

Produced by Karan Johar, directed by Bejoy Nambiar and Karishma Kohli, there are some nice progressive narratives throughout the story. Around women bearing the unsaid burden of keeping the family together, even though they may be stars and the breadwinners of the family. Around them finding the strength to liberate themselves from the traps laid by society to discover and chase what they want. Around accepting the sexuality of youngsters, who are finding themselves, in a society that still is un-inclusive at its core.

In a way, it feels like OTT storytelling has decided to take a stand of tellling mainly ‘feel-bad’ stories. We know that Bollywood did a little too much of ‘feel-good’, but I’m sure the OTT platforms can find a middle path, without making all Hindi stories take us to the ‘geharaiyaan’ of despair all the time.

But, where the series really misses out is in not having a clear vision for the story. As we get to the later episodes, the story starts falling into some predictable patterns, and to cater to a thriller genre, complicates the plot with diversions on the narrative. Some unnecessary deaths, unnecessary betrayals, and unnecessary twists. Even though the mystery of why and how Anamika disappears is quite good when it’s revealed.

The other disappointing thing about the series is that it’s a very insider-Bollywood storytelling, many times making a commentary on the lives of successful celebrities. As a result, it becomes a very narrow inside story, that beyond a point fails to make a strong connection to the plot and the characters. 

And finally, the main big missed opportunity is the narrowness of the vision of leveraging an actor like Madhuri Dixit. It’s like Karan Johar and the new age directors can’t see Madhuri as anything other than a ‘star of yesteryears’. In fact, that’s the most disappointing narrative of everything she has done in the last decade. True that Madhuri was a star. But the reason she was a star is because of her talent. It’s time for a storyteller to truly see beyond the chaka-chaund-ness of Madhuri Dixit, to see her for who she is and what she can bring to good story-telling. A little bit like what Anamika Anand herself keeps looking for, throughout the series. In that, then, is the supreme irony, that the plot of the series itself is not able to do what it preaches. 

I still stay in hope that a scriptwriter, a director, and a producer will find that soon enough. 

Till then, we wait for the second season of The Fame Game, because yes, season 1 does end with a cliffhanger. 

What did you expect? It's Netflix!

A Murderous New Year, The Thursday Murder Club Book Review, Only Murders in the Building, Hotstar series review.

The New Year 2022 viewing and reading started quite murderously this year. It just so happened that the series we started watching on Hotstar (Only Murders in the Building) and the book I picked up to read (The Thursday Murder Club) coincided at the same time. Was it my subconscious seeking an escape from reality after the end of the holiday season? Or just the desire of some comfort murder mystery through once again a stuck-at-home Omicron January? Because a classic who-dun-it story-telling is that all-time fail-safe genre, to which nothing else comes close.

Starting with Richard Osman’s record-breaking bestselling first novel (published 2020), #TheThursdayMurderClub. I’ve had my eye on this for a while and when his second in the series was released a few months ago (The Man Who Died Twice), I knew it was time for me to start the first. Set in an upmarket retirement village off London, the story is about a group of sixty and seventy-something seniors, who past their prime, get together to form the Thursday Murder Club, self-appointed sleuths investigating murders from the past and indeed, murders in the present that come knocking in their neighborhood. Through a series of characters, twists and turns, and more than just a single murder, the Club finally solves the mystery before the police can, and nail their presence as the best crime-solving sexagenarians and septuagenarians, this side of London.

The reason why this book is enjoyable is not because of the intriguing plot with a never-could-guess reveal at the end. Even though the mystery is interesting and not predictable. No, this is clearly not an Agatha Christie. The reason why the book possibly became such a best seller is because of bringing two otherwise completely contrasting worlds together. The world of a British retirement village and the world of crime and detectives is not something one would expect to see enmeshed with each other. But, it is this very cocktail that Osman masterfully creates, that hits the spot.

We see ourselves warming up to these irresistible oldies, who despite their age-related handicaps, are driven by a common mission to find the killer and solve the mystery. The four characters of the Murder Club - Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron - are built nicely, each with their unique personalities, and back-stories, complete with a lifetime of both joys and sorrows. Osman strikes a fine balance between keeping a light and humorous touch to the aging cast of the book, while still maintaining the dignity, the respect, and the love we all are familiar with our own parents and grandparents. Even as we’re engrossed in finding out who-dun-it, we also enjoy the flow and texture of the novel, which is like sipping a warm cup of tea, in the British countryside. Will be checking out the second in the series soon.

If The Thursday Murder Club is a cup of tea, Only Murders in the Building is a tall cappuccino in your hand. If the best-selling fiction novel made heroes of oldies just doing and enjoying their oldie life, the critically acclaimed series makes heroes of oldies almost denying their age and going all out youth sleuth mode. Like Osman’s book, this Hulu original also brings together two contrasting worlds in the service of solving a murder mystery. Again like the book, this 10-episode series also has a nice unpredictable mystery, with a merging of death in the past and a crime in the present. But Osman’s book is British to the core, set in contemporary London, yet with an evocation of a past nostalgia. And the Hotstar series is American, or rather New York to the core, set in contemporary Manhattan, in the posh Upper West Side apartment building, the Arconia, with an action-packed life of a multitude of variety of singles- the bitter, the cynical, the self-obsessed, the loners, the artists, the ex-stars, the maladjusted and the wanna-be’s.

Only Murders in the Building is a thoroughly enjoyable classic who-dun-it, starring the legends Steve Martin and Martin Short and I suppose kind-of-a-teenage-legend, Selena Gomez. Three single and unlikely individuals, who get together, only because of their love of crime podcasts and an opportunity that presents itself to solve a murder that’s just happened in the building. Every episode brings a new twist and turn, till they finally almost don’t solve the mystery and then they finally do. Or do they? The storytelling is absolutely delightful, that mingles a Broadway theatre dramatization with the episodic engagement of a Podcast, as the 3 protagonists indeed make their detective work into a live “Broad-cast”.  The chemistry between Steve Martin and Martin Short is a complete joy and reminiscent of the Father of the Bride series. As well-past-their-prime sexagenarians, they deliver a fantastic performance that is both funny and endearing. Selena Gomez is a discovery, playing her silent, cynical, judging, Gen Z foil to the two over-the-top boomers. A highly recommended watch. Just good old simple and engaging storytelling. The way it should be.

As the deliciously murderous January ended, February hasn’t so far created a stir. But I see Kenneth Branagh’s next Poirot (Death on the Nile) is out in theatres. Looks like we need to give a murderous end to February too. What say?

Gehraiyaan, 2022 - Movie Review

One of the most awaited Bollywood big-name-big screen films premiering in an OTT-near-you. A big attractive star cast, no less than everyone’s heartthrob Deepika Padukone, new popular kids in town, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Pandey, recent newcomer Dhairya Karwa (seen before in Uri, and ’83). A big production house, no less than Dharma Productions and Amazon. And one of the more promising directors of recent times, Shakun Batra (who gave us the absolutely fantastic Kapoor and Sons, 2016, and refreshingly light rom-com Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, 2012).

In short, the film has all the ingredients for making a really good recipe for a film. So, how does the final dish taste?

Like the title of the movie, the answer to the question lies in the depth of it. And like the film, it’s not a straight answer.

First, the plot. This revolves around Alisha (Deepika), in a steady relationship, in a typical Mumbai striving life stage with her long term boyfriend (Dhairya), trying to get a business, career, and life going, facing the ups and downs of making it and not making it, continuously haunted by a troubled childhood past and family relationships. Getting together with her once-bestie-but-now-distanced cousin, Tia (Ananya), and her fiancé (Zain, Siddhant) one weekend in their old childhood home in Alibaug, triggers an instant attraction and an ongoing hidden relationship between Alisha and Zain. From then, it’s a roller coaster ride of a newfound passion and love on one side and the pragmatic realities of current relationships and each of their individual businesses-in-the-making, on the other. Add to that their collective troubled family history that continues to play a shadow on Alisha’s mind. And the web of an uneasy, anxiety-ridden emotionally charged quadrangle of love-past-business-darkness gets deeper and deeper.

The film does a fabulous job of capturing today’s very real urban millennial “quarter-life-crisis” life stage. We see the sights and sounds of Mumbai life as the backdrop for the everyday struggles of the average youth trying to hack it in a complex no-rules society, where everyone is on their own, figuring out their present, overcoming their past, and desperately trying to write their uncertain future, both professionally and personally. The frustrating attempt of trying to get control of a time and a life that is fundamentally out of their control is a poignant comment of our times, and perhaps a foregone conclusion of inevitable heart-breaks and mind-fuck consequences. This is no longer a world of happy endings. Welcome to Bollywood 2022. And for that, we applaud the coming of age of mainstream Hindi cinema. 

Then, it is this narrative that is played brilliantly by Deepika. She looks and acts like a mature actor, who has grown and become more beautiful in her talent. She looks great too, by the way. Alisha’s character is written really well, and Deepika does justice to it, by playing it to the tee. Her dialogues, her face, her body language, and her silence all act together to give a complete performance of Alisha, who becomes the central character through which we view the entire story. This is Deepika’s film and one of her finest performances. An utter delight to watch her.

And then there is Naseeruddin Shah, as her estranged father, who, although in only a few scenes, lifts those scenes and in fact the overall story through his sheer genius talent. One of the last scenes is a tender moment between Alisha and her father, which probably is the ‘frame’ scene of the film, that you could argue, makes the entire film.
And, oh, the soundtrack is fab too. Great to see some good Bollywood music with new artists after a long time.

But that’s probably it. 

Ananya Pandey, as Alisha’s young and more innocent cousin, is not bad and carries her role. And Dhairya, as Alisha’s (ex-) boyfriend plays his part too. But the biggest disappointment comes from Siddhant Chaturvedi, as Zain, the other critical character that is responsible for making or breaking the film. And he breaks it. To be fair, Zain’s character itself is not written half as well as Alisha's. It’s like the writer spent all his time on Alisha and just fitted Zain conveniently into the story. And as the plot gets darker, Zain’s character meanders and evolves unconvincingly, leaving us a little cheated and annoyed at having invested our emotions in him. And on top of that Siddhant does a poor job of performing the role. He is not convincing as Alisha’s lover, or as the ambitious millennial start-up entrepreneur, or as a ruthless businessman, or as a cheating boyfriend. Perhaps a more talented actor like Ranbir or Ranveer, or Ayushman would have saved the role and the film. What a pity. After rocking it in Gully Boy (https://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2019/02/gully-boy-film-review.html), we were really rooting for Siddhant. But alas.

Trying to steer away from the stereotypical Bollywood happy entertainment, the film perhaps veers a little to the other extreme. This is not a feel-good film, but a feel-bad film, and for most of the movie, we feel like we also need the Valium that Alisha is popping in her mouth every day. This creates a less-than-great watching experience, especially when we don’t feel convinced of Zain, his motivations, and the resulting negative consequences that are making us feel bad in the first place. The film goes through twists and turns and sometimes unnecessarily so, tagging us along, and draining and stretching us, in not very good ways. As a result, we feel bad without really a reason to feel bad. Shakun, we have seen you break the stereotypical feel-good Bollywood format and yet give us an extremely loveable and enjoyable film in Kapoor & Sons. You know how to do that. What went wrong here?

All in all, it’s worth a watch, especially if you’re a Deepika Padukone fan, because she is all there is to the film. And for seeing the evolution of a potential new genre of films in mainstream Bollywood (should we call it OTT Cinema?). There is also a beauty in the over-arching message for our times, of the need to accept our past, give ourselves second chances, and keep moving, one day at a time, without necessarily counting on a happy ending.

But overall, the film itself falls below expectations. That’s unfortunately the gehra sach!

The Tender Bar 2021 - Film Review

What is it about coming-of-age movies that we just can’t seem to get enough? We’ve seen so many of them and we still keep coming back for more.

Boyhood, Reality Bites, Juno, Scent of a Woman, Dead Poet’s Society, Almost Famous, Dil Chahta Hai, Wake up Sid, and at some level, even our obsession with Spiderman, the super-hero version of the same genre, that has outlived the entire Avengers MCU!

It’s probably because these stories capture that one beautiful life stage in all of our personal histories that is filled with possibilities. At that magical time of our lives when the restrictions of being a child are just being unshackled, and the realities of adult life haven’t dawned on us. We no longer feel the powerlessness of childhood and we are just beginning to taste the independence of adulthood, and still without a care for responsibilities. That one time in our lives, when the world is ours to take, define, create, make, build and imagine. That one brief time in our lives when we are truly free. Free from time and space. Free from the burden of the past, or the expectations of the future. Free from our society, our relationships, and even ourselves. Free to define our identities in the way we want. Free to shape the future.

#TheTenderBar is a film about all this and more. And if you’re a sucker for these stories or if maybe you’re still living in this life stage in your minds, then this film is for you.

Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning writer J.R. Moerhinger’s memoir by the same name, set through the 70s and 80s, the film tells the story about coming of age of JR, an introverted child in a broken family, where after the father leaves them, moves with his mother to their grandfather’s home with the extended family. Despite getting love and all the craziness of the new family set up, he continues to grow under the shadow of the missing father, continuously haunting in his life as ‘the voice’ on the radio. The two most significant influences in his life then become the deep love and ambition of his mother (who wants him to become a lawyer from Yale) on one side, and more importantly, his uncle Charlie (brilliantly played by Ben Affleck), who runs their family-owned local pub, Dickens, in Long Island. This ‘tender bar’ then becomes the avenue for shaping his journey of growing up and transitioning to becoming a man, under the inspirational-yet-pragmatic guidance of his favorite ‘bar tender’. As he makes it to Yale, through his unrequited love story, and his career ups and downs, towards finally finding his calling in becoming a writer.

The story is not new. But, as always with films like this, it is how the story is told that makes an impact, once again reminding us of the power of good movie-making and impactful story-telling. Kudos George Clooney, the director. We can feel his touch of lightness, style, beauty, flow, emotions, and an understated optimism throughout the film. Ben Affleck does a great job of playing the key influence that shapes JR’s life, enough for us to forgive (though not forget) his Batman disaster. Daniel Ranieri as the young boy JR is brilliant in his innocent-yet-observant portrayal. And Tye Sheridan (seen in X-Men Apocalypse and Ready Player One) also does a really good job of playing the difficult role of young JR, an insecure and under-confident youth, trying to balance his talent, his calling, his reality, and his emotions. Christopher Lloyd (of Back to the Future scientist fame)  as the grumpy old grandfather and the talented Lily Rabe (of TV fame) as the victim-yet-hopeful mother deliver memorable and poignant moments in the film. And finally, the soundtrack of the 70s and 80s throughout the film is a key player in the film, adding to the emotions and Clooney is a genius for using it well, as an aide to making us feel more with the film, more than what the words and the story could have ever done. 

At the end of the day, we can analyze till we paralyze, but a good film is one that makes you feel something and that stays with you after you’ve walked out of the room. And this film hits the spot. What stays with us is JR’s emotional journey to becoming a writer. What stays with us is the life lessons of progressive masculinity that Uncle Charlie flawlessly delivers. The mood of the NY State of the 70s and 80s. The dysfunctional-yet-optimistic families of America. The rooting for the underdog. The kindness of friends and strangers. And most of all what stays with us is how the film makes us feel, and our own re-immersion into the coming-of-age of our own lives.  

Watch it with a glass of wine in your hand, or your favorite Scotch, or maybe Dickens’ favorite gin martini, or watch it neat, but watch it when you have the space and time to feel once again that one time in your life when you felt free.

Time to order the book, because I think want some more of this…

The Nutmeg’s Curse, Parables for a Planet in Crisis - Amitav Ghosh, 2021

Every now and then comes a book that brings mind-changing perspectives that we hadn’t seen before. Not because they weren’t there, but simply because we’re all consumed by the lives we lead in our own narrow, confined bubbles, and because we’re all blinded by the truths and conditioning of what is fed to us over the years. 

The Nutmeg’s Curse, by Amitav Ghosh, is one such book, that aims to burst our bubbles just enough for us to see beyond our post-modern, neo-liberal, capitalist lives, that we’ve all not only taken for granted as the only way to function in countries and in societies but that we also defend and propagate as the only ‘right’ way for the future. Amitav Ghosh takes us into a journey of the past, as a means to find the answers to our collective future. And puts in words beautifully, what many of us already feel in our bones every day - the way the world functions today does not work for the world and the people living in it, and will continue to not work in the future.

This book is extremely ‘timely’, because we can get all the help we need if we are to save the world, and because it offers an alternative way to do it, beyond delegations, promises, COP26, and activism. But more importantly, the book is ‘timeless’, because it takes a deeper and longer time perspective that shows us a more human, a more fundamental, and a more holistic re-orientation that has always existed and can perhaps show us the way into the future.

Amitav Ghosh makes a few simple but deeply powerful reflections, towards finding answers to our planet crisis

One, that history is always seen as an idea of ‘time’. Events that happened against a timeline in the past. And because our understanding of history is what conditions us on how we think about the world and where we came from, this narrow idea of history as ‘time’ leaves an essential aspect of history that is equally, if not more important. And that is history as an idea of ‘space’ - of how the people, the flora, the fauna, and the environment all existed inter-dependently at a moment in time. And what these memories give us in our understanding of the world. And therefore, what lessons does that give for the future.

Two, the neo-liberal capitalist systems that we all function within today, is a legacy of only the last 400 years of imperialism, from Portuguese to the Dutch to the British, and across most of the world from the Americas in the west to the Indonesian end in the East and everywhere in between. It is the fundamental belief system and the entire conscious strategy of self-proclaimed civilized-and-therefore-superior colonial-settlers conquering lands for exploiting their resources for the benefit of the empires, at the expense of local people, animal-plant ecosystems, and the environment. And it is this colonial-settler mindset that is being repeated over and over again (including an acceleration in the last 50 years), much after the end of ‘formal’ imperialism, and being practiced also by the same countries in modern times, that were the victims earlier. 

Three, the entire language and approach to sustainability and environment today, is steeped in logic and science, and jargon and morality and politics and activism. But, what moves people and societies are stories, not facts. And what’s missing in the world today is these stories of the plants, and the animals, and the air and the water, and the wind and the sun. Stories that we can all feel and therefore connect with, enough to save it. 

A skill and a way of life, and the answers, that today live with the one section of humanity (the farmers, the indigenous population, the tribals) that itself has been marginalized in society by the same capitalist forces that are responsible for our current planet crisis. The one set of people that can save us is the one people who have no say in the environmental discourse. The irony is painful. Ghosh calls to storytellers of all kinds to take this mantle on.

Four, one of the fundamental reasons for our planet crisis is our conditioned world view of seeing the earth and its elements as ‘resources’. The language and the ethos of a resource imply something that needs to be used for the benefit of humans. Couple that with the incessant ‘growth obsession’ of the capitalist world (which inherently is in contradiction with planet Earth), and is it any surprise that we find ourselves in the situation we are in. The solution lies in what Ghosh calls thinking of the earth as ‘Gaia’, a living entity and that we need to live in harmony with, and not as a ’resource’ to manage.

Finally, Ghosh argues that all of this has shaped the geopolitics of energy and all other resources of the earth. The power and politics of different countries around oil, fossil fuels, renewables, materials that make greedy-growing modern human life possible, will continue to be the biggest barrier to the reality of any meaningful action ever being taken towards a more sustainable future. And therefore, any real future solution to the planetary crisis needs to take into account not only dismantling some of these existing structures across countries, working together, but also including ground level, people-planet-poverty solutions. 

Immersing into this brilliant narrative, it becomes clear to us that our current preoccupation with the science of environment sustainability (for example, preventing carbon footprint to keep the temperature increase to under 2 degrees) is too simplistic, and therefore not, the only answer. Which one-sided relationship ever works? No wonder then, the earth as a one-way resource for human beings is a self-fulfilling disaster we are now living in. Consequently, a one-sided solution of reducing greenhouse gases or carbon footprint or any of those will also not be a sustainable answer. 

The real solution lies in a socio-economic-political-environmental approach that starts from the stories of plants and animals and people, living interdependently, with a harmonious multi-way relationship of give-and-take and balance. What Ghosh calls a ‘Vitalist’ approach. 

Here’s hoping more people read this book, for all of us to make a collective impact to save the future of our planet together. So that many years from now, we and our children can tell the stories of how the world shed its divisiveness and came together to ’pivot’ towards building a vitalist, sustainable, monstrous, beautiful, and thriving Gaia.