And the Mountains Echoed

I believe I'm late with the review, but I want to recommend this to those who have not tasted the magical recipe of Hosseini's writing concoctions.
You cannot deny the fact that Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant author who knows how to mould the emotions of the reader as the story demands it.
Although his books always do have a recurring pattern involving minors, pre and post turmoil Afghanistan, and an ending that leaves you neither smiling, nor crying- you never get tired of that. His sentences are interlaced with emotions; paragraphs brimming with the potency of bringing shivers down your spine, and pages encouraging you to turn to the next, even though its late at night and you've cried enough for the day.

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Maybe on Mother’s Day we can try taking one step towards respecting women. Yes.

I know. I know. Some of you might frown and say “not another article on this, no not again!” however I shall say that now is the perfect time to write about this.
Tell me. The Delhi Braveheart died. From being a successful future doctor, in ten days her world ended. Its over for her. The game has ended. And what about her rapists? Oh they shall rot in some jail of the country for a decade or more enjoying all three meals a day, the correct number of hours outdoors for their health (for its crucial to maintain good standards in a good prison) while their court case goes on and on..and on. For god knows how many years.

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Each one of us lives a different life.

Yes, there’s a specific word for that very realization - that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. It’s called sonder.

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The Alternate Universe

We cannot afford countless number of deaths in the jails of the two countries justifying “they” killed “our” men, so “we” kill “theirs”. Until, the nationalism of “my” country (which lies deep down in a 60 feet bore well, where Prince, the kid you might remember, had fallen some years ago, wait, do you?) surpasses humanism, let alone the talks about “their” nationalism.

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Nautanki Sala: What royal waste of time, money and Mr. Khuranna!

Okay, when was the last time I saw  a badly crafted movie? Ah yes, Ek thi Dayan. But it wasn't bad enough to break this writing hiatus of mine on aS and bitch talk about a movie which, in contrast to the sky high pre release  expectations fell on its face onscreen.

That said, I would definitely praise Ayushmann Khuranna for the single handed steer he has given to the otherwise sad movie. He's clearly an actor class apart, and deserves better movies.

Bottomline? The movie's a drag. Reason?

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Kai Po Che: Beyond the 3 Mistakes

Bundled with the frames of crude Ahmdawaad and set in the 2000s, Kai Po Che sensitively touches the political scene of Godhra riots, yet trying to be “fair” enough to cross the boundaries of the censor board and the kesariya and green flagged “institutions”. The film is one of the best cinematic adaptations of an Indian novel done by an Indian filmmaker, in the boundaries of course. For those who have already read Bhagat’s “The Three Mistakes of my Life”, it should be a motion picture of every word written in the book (except the climax which makes it better than the novel), as if it was written to be adapted into the screenplay by default. The small sports shop set against the backdrop of the mammoth temple in the film impeccably concretized the picture that I had drawn while reading it.

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Rise of an Underdog: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

You must have watched Sarfarosh that came in 1999. Remember that police interrogation scene where Inspector Salim (our very own Bulla) bullies two helpless & hapless malnutritioned locals of the nightclub area of Mumbai for some information? One of the guys breaks and accepts to turn informer. The camera then zooms to a triumphant, radiant Aamir Khan, who asks Salim to herd away the others.

You don't? Watch this.

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