Movies are like a kidnapping: Books versus their film adaptations
Do authors like to see their work portrayed on celluloid? And when that is done, are they satisfied with the final product? Of course, they do want the film based on their book to succeed. But isn’t…
Jiya jale: Gulzar and his lyrics
Writing subtitles for Hindi film songs can lead to hilarious situations. Famously, the song from Mangal Pandey: The Rising called ‘Mangal mangal’ was translated as ‘Tuesday, Tuesday’! But imagine the chagrin of the person who has to…
Tumbbad: A fable of greed
Gloomy grey skies, incessant dreary downpours and an eerie emptiness that echoes through the length of the film. An abandoned waada enveloped in green moss, antique locks which creak and resound in a lonely house, flickering lanterns…
Naina da kya kasoor
It starts off slowly. As the lilting music emerges from the piano, your fingers start tapping. And when the guitar strings, piano keys and the percussionist begin belting out the peppy rhythm, your heart wants to start…
Andhadhun: A script to die for
There were two dilemmas while deciding to write about Andhadhun. First, I was very busy travelling when the film released in November. And until it showed up on Netflix I didn’t get a chance to view it.…
The Mad Tibetan: Deepti Naval’s anthology of short stories
The Mad Tibetan: Stories from then and now is Deepti Naval’s debut anthology of eleven short stories which was first published in 2011. I happened to stumble over it while browsing for books on Amazon now. Rather late,…
Kedarnath: The wrath of nature
In the opening scenes of Kedarnath, the camera pans the mighty Himalayas and I gasped at the landscape. Complementing the stunning visuals of the magnificent mountains was the resounding score of Amit Trivedi’s Namo namo shankara. The film…
Dark Circles: A poignant debut novel
What do your parents bequeath to you? Do you look like them? Behave like them? Think like them? React like them? How intertwined is your present existence with your parent’s pasts? Dark Circles is a novel which…
If I had to tell it again: A moving memoir by Gayathri Prabhu
I met Gayathri Prabhu at a workshop last month. She teaches literary studies at the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities. She was moderator of the most impactful session of the day— not by being at the…
Pyjamas are forgiving: Twinkle Khanna’s third book
The only reason I ordered Twinkle Khanna’s third book ‘Pyjamas are forgiving‘ online in haste, was because a friend had sent me a message saying that the protagonist in this book was called Anshu! Else I would…
