Mughal E Azam: Feroz Abbas Khan’s magnificent play
Sometimes I let my impulses get the better of me. And so I landed in Mumbai on Sunday to watch Feroz Abbas Khan‘s play, Mughal E Azam, based on K Asif’s magnum opus, at the NCPA . And I…
Irawati Karve’s ‘Yuganta- The end of an epoch’
Just finished reading Irawati Karve’s ‘Yuganta– The end of an epoch‘. It is an English version of the original Marathi book written in the 1960s. In a series of compelling essays, she draws sketches of the most prominent…
Newton: Amit V Masurkar’s masterpiece
India’s 2017 entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign language film is Amit V Masurkar’s Newton. The film stars Rajkummar Rao as Newton– a conscientious, upright officer who is sent on his first assignment to conduct polls in a…
Hansal Mehta’s Simran: a letdown
Coming from Hansal Mehta- director of films like Shahid and Aligarh- Simran is a letdown. It is a tale of an NRI gujju hotel maid Praful Patel who is ambitious and impulsive. (I couldn’t but think of…
Em and the big Hoom: Jerry Pinto’s poignant novel
“Imagine you are walking in a pleasant meadow with someone you love, your mother. It is warm, and there’s just enough of a breeze to cool you…… Suddenly, your mother steps into a patch of quicksand. The…
Selection Day: Aravind Adiga’s third novel
‘Selection Day’ is Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga’s third novel. Published by Fourth Estate, the book is set in Mumbai with cricket as its backdrop. Like his first novel, ‘The White Tiger’, Adiga successfully delves into the…
Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Begum Jaan’: Powerful and nuanced
Several versions in cinema describe the impact of the partition of India in 1947 – some are grim, some intense, while others are emotional. Srijit Mukherji’s ‘Begum Jaan‘ is a metaphorical story which offers a completely different…
Nil Battey Sannata: A good directorial debut
Ever since I heard of it, I have wanted to see this film, which has been making waves in film festivals across the world. First, because the title “Nil Battey Sannata” didn’t make any sense to me.…
Khullam Khulla: Uninhibited Rishi Kapoor
From one Bollywood biography to the next. Just finished Khullam Khulla—Rishi Kapoor’s ‘uncensored’ biography written with Meena Iyer. The comparison is unnecessary, but this one is a certainly more interesting read than KJo’s book. For one, Rishi Kapoor…
An Unsuitable Boy: Karan Johar’s autobiography
Finished reading Karan Johar’s autobiography ‘An Unsuitable Boy’. Like KJo’s Koffee with Karan, the book doesn’t pretend to be remotely cerebral. It is chatty and you almost feel as if Karan is talking to you. Like he says- he…
