The Review Post

There was a movie called Nayak - The real hero  many moons ago. It was a remake of a South Indian film about a common man who is made chief minister for a day. It was - in the true South Indian cinematic sense - dramatic and starred Anil Kapoor in the title role. When I watched this film for the first time, I remember thinking - AS IF! Aise thodi hota hai? But I loved it for how idealistic it was. It was nice to think maybe, just maybe, there will be an end to stereotypical politicians, that a hero will rise and change the  chalta hai attitude and actually say nahi chalega, badlo ise. Or better yet, hum badlenge ise - which is everything the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stands for. As Arvind Kejriwal swore in as Chief Minister (CM) of Delhi today, I felt goosebumps on my skin. What a struggle! And what an overwhelming result! His first speech as CM was liberating, reassuring and had one overarching message - we are the Aam Aadmi Party and we are here to help you. I must confes

Ok ok. Yes yes. I know I know. I said I wouldn't go MIA again and that's exactly what I did. But I had good reason - there is no singular thing one can write about this festive season! There is so much cheer, happiness and activity, one's bound to get carried away and lose track of time. So take a deep breath and smell Christmas in the air. A waft of yummy treats in the kitchen to the soft hum of Christmas carols. The church bells ringing in the background and Last Christmas  playing in the cubicle next to yours (this song makes it on everyone's playlist this time of the year). I fondly remember my hostel days when I think of Christmas. The thing is, I lived in hostel for a couple of years when I was in college and my Christmas experience there, is by far the best I've ever had. When I say hostel, I mean the strict kind - where our deadline was 7 pm and if you wanted to stretch 7.30 pm. It was run by a group of nuns and they were extremely strict ab

Hello folks! Sorry for going MIA like that. It was the need of the hour and I have got none of my content plans underway yet. BUT the happy news is - it's been a year since I started this blog! Yay yay! :) I feel extremely proud that (though at snail-pace) I have put out content that I believe in and all of it original, through the year. I have certain plans for this blog and I hope to achieve them through the next year. I don't know who my readers are, except for my 4 followers - a warm thank you to you guys :) I hope to get you some company in the following year, lots more, actually! And those reading secretly, I'd really like to know who you are - do subscribe :) A big thank you to all those who supported my endeavours and stood strong beside me through my peaks and falls. You have helped me get to where I am today. You know who you are :) And with that - here's to a year of more content, and more buzz! Cheers!

Confession first - I caught myself staring at the screen with my mouth agape many times during the course of this film. The beauty in every frame is just overwhelming. And I'm writing this review while I listen to the music of Ram-leela on loop :P Ram-leela could have been a reverie if there were no guns or violence in the movie. But Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes it absolutely clear that this is no subtle romance - first in the title itself "Goliyon ki raasleela - Ram-leela"  and then in every frame of the film - you will never NOT see guns and if you don't see guns, you will witness some form of violence or hear gunshots in the least. Set against this backdrop is a romance that is in-your-face and raw. The first half of the film is just exhilarating. So fast, so thrilling, you'll be gasping for breath to catch up. The songs, the intros and the music just keep you enthralled and entertained. But come second half, the story begins to slack. All the fight

To be completely honest, I never thought I'd go watch Krrish 3 . With the mutant angle and all that jazz, I wasn't sure how it would be treated on Indian silver screen, and my scepticism wasn't wrong. If you are a fan of sci-fi, and the X-Men series to be more specific, Krrish 3 will remind you of nothing else. Especially if you know the characters by heart and know their superpowers (guilty), you'll see nothing original in the film. Except for the role of Rohit Mehra  which I thought was treated with respect and finesse and the character spectacularly performed by Hrithik Roshan. The brief flashback definitely helps refresh the audience memory and maintain continuity. You will find no difference between the Rohit Mehra of Koi Mil Gaya and the one in Krrish 3 , except for the wrinkled face and the unmissable pot belly. This character, in my opinion, was the only redeeming factor in a movie otherwise too high on melodrama and destruction. I must also credit Kan

You know that feeling when you get an amazing idea, don't note it down and forget it? Yes! It's happened a million times but what do we do to change it? To NOT lose those precious gems of genius? Oh I've thought of a way! Here it is - but wait, I didn't write it down and now, I don't remember! But today, I must say I reached new heights of stupidity. Indeed. So as I was going about my day, I had a genius stroke and I immediately even thought of writing it down in my shiny new diary with my shiny new pens. But wait, what if I made mistakes? I didn't want ugly scratches in my new diary. So I decided to use a pencil. I ran to my room, fished out a new pencil from the pack (new diary, new stationery), sharpened it, got an eraser (to erase anticipated mistakes - that's right!) and reached out for my shiny new diary and... It was gone! The BIG idea - was gone. And here I am now, writing this post with a pencil, in my shiny new diary, so I don'

I was watching Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) the other day and discovered that a university in Kolkata was introducing Love as a course from the academic year starting 2014. My mind instantly went into an overdrive about what they would teach in this course: - Different kinds of love - towards your parents, siblings, spouses and pets - The difference between love and lust - The difference between love and compassion - Bollywood love - Violent love (horror stories of love) - Unrequited love - Music and Love And the list can go on... Say if I took up the course, would my qualifications read as any of these? Mallika Harsha, Love Honours Mallika Harsha, MSc. Love Mallika Harsha, PhD. Love Mallika Harsha, MA Love Disclaimer: This an exaggeration (Love will be available as a credit course along with other unique subjects like Digital Humanties and The Physics of Everyday Life). And looking at this, who would give me a job? Arts students find it hard enough convincing

And it left. Leaving me in the beautiful month of October with nothing to write about. That's right! In addition to being lost and confused (which is my general state of mind), I'm also blank! (And this is new because I generally have something to say about everything.) Notice how I have more text in brackets than the actual blog post. So I start saying something and I have more side thoughts than the actual thoughts. That ever happen to you? Always happens to me. My point being, for someone with so many thoughts, to go blank is something new.  Finally, when I did sit down to write today, this is what I was doing: When this is what I should've been doing: Again, point being, I have no peg for my stories and I'm seriously scraping the bottom of an empty barrel (read mind) for ideas. In case you did make it through the entire post, please feel free to drop in your suggestions! They're always welcome :)

In a hectic day of work, chores and the regular chaos, a book (especially a good one) makes me want to just sit down, unwind and enter my own world. I won't go so far as calling myself a bookworm (I know people who read way more than I do) but I enjoy a good read. Who doesn't? Even registered myself on  Goodreads.com  - this site really inspired me to read more and most importantly, share what I read. Imagine coming home to one of these! :) So I've spread my proverbial book wings to reach out to all the people of the book world! :) When I think books, I've always wished for - i) a rack full of them, so I wouldn't know where to begin. ii) Be part of a book club and have discussions about my favourite authors and my favourite part of the plot in a book. iii) Own a library and the aforementioned book club :) (I can settle for being just a librarian, too). Sidetrack Yeah I know, I know - I haven't even really worked yet and here I am

This is perhaps the saddest thing to happen. On the one hand we talk about a global village, one family, one world - and on the other we have a bunch of ignorant souls. Here's what happened, in a nutshell - Indian-American (Miss New York - Nina Davuluri) won the Miss America pageant - much to the adoration of the world at large and to the dismay of a select few in America. It was a moment to be proud. Not because I'm Indian, but to see how diversified the world has become. The United States of America not only permitted an Indian-American to participate in their coveted pageant but whole-heartedly and fairly even crowned her the beauty of the nation. Kudos to them! Now, coming to those select few who cannot assimilate the success of people who actually work hard. Here's what you should know about Nina Davuluri . What's sad is, hate-mongers like this exist everywhere, not just on social media, or any particular geographic location. So, we should look bey

The Krishna Key was my first book review and although I enjoy the genre, I was not very kind in my assessment of the book. You can read it right here , if you haven't already. Maybe the plot wasn't up to the mark and the theory didn't appeal to my logic, but there is one thing the book did give me, and that's  immense knowledge . Today I quote stories of Lord Krishna and have a better understanding of his existence in Indian mythology. There are so many things he said that are applicable to life even today, it's astonishing. There is so much to learn about Indian culture and heritage - and books like these capture them beautifully. I may not have given The Krishna Key rave reviews (and no I'm not changing that), but I do wish to acknowledge the wealth of information I have acquired because of it. :)

It is the age where not only do your looks count, even how your food looks counts (for something I don't know either). I don't recall ever saying food was 'gorgeous' before Gary, George and Matt (of Masterchef Australia fame) waltzed right into my living room and introduced me to the new food vocab. Masterchef Australia - They're here & they're hungry! First up, it's odd that we watch a show that is culturally so different from ours. Then, we watch people cook dishes with ingredients we don't even consider 'food' in the first place (pheasant, quail eggs, squid ink et al.) We watch their top chefs drool and praise the food and feel good about it (can't say why). And we immerse ourselves in their 'oohs & aahs' and indulge in some desi version of comfort food while watching them cook on TV! Adriano Zumbo with his creation - The Macaroon Tower Yes, ridiculous I know. But I do it too! There's something so add

You know it's been a while since I read this one. But unlike the other books, I didn't feel like writing about The Great Gatsby as soon as I was finished.  My thought: it's a marvelous read. No wonder people rave about it so much. I've joined the club. There's so much truth in what F. Scott Fitzgerald writes. The plot may be set in post-war America, but the sentiments and emotions are so real and true to even this day and age. I'll confess, I've never been forced into retrospection by a book before. The Great Gatsby left me in an emotional limbo.  And I'm still in it.  The novel is witty, intense and has great character. You feel Jay Gatby's love, Nick Carraway's helplessness and Daisy Buchanan's ordeal. It left me with "and life goes on..." kind of feeling.  You think, you can comment on the lives of these characters, but you can't. And that's where I think the beauty of this book lies. There is some of them i

Superman is my favorite superhero. And I can't say I've been happy with the way he's been depicted in the movies made till date. I mean cocky with a wry sense of humor is great, and works really well with the ladies too, but somewhere down the line I believe Superman stopped being taken seriously. Could be because of that glued hairstyle with just one curl on the forehead (which not once fell out of place, no matter how much he flew around the stratosphere) or the famous red briefs over the blue suit. Photo: Google images But all that changed with Man of Steel. The curl and the red briefs are gone as the superhero dawns a new avatar. And I don't think it has anything to do with the new face of Superman - Henry Cavill (drool!) - or his elaborate background story. I think it was more about Christopher Nolan and his vision of Superman. After Inception, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, we believe in the genius of Christopher Nolan. But unfortunately, that e

Absolutely!  The much awaited Ranbir Kapoor (RK) - Deepika Padukone (DP) starrer was like a breath of fresh air. I know, I know, you might think of me as either of two things - an ardent admirer of Ranbir Kapoor or an enthusiast of the KJo brand of films - let me clear the air and say I'm neither. But I am an unabashed, self-proclaimed fan of Deepika Padukone (no I'm not gay, I'm just in awe of how well she's handled her life - personal & professional. Now that's what you call moving on).  Having established my credibility to review this film, I will also take my own cue from the previous sentence.  The movie is fast-paced and keeps you engaged with the way the characters constantly evolve and deal with sensitive emotions. RK is magnificent, effortless and proves his blue blood lineage with his portrayal of Bunny and DP is restrained, strong and fabulous as Naina. Kalki Koechlin has amazing screen presence as Aditi and Aditya Roy Kapoor was convin

There's little that can be said about the great floods of the North this time, except that it was most unexpected after a bout of blistering heat. Sure the showers provided the much-needed relief, but to the dismay of its receivers. What devastation. May the souls of all those who didn't survive the calamity rest in peace. Having said that, I'd like to take your attention to the image below: When news of the floods was broadcast last evening, this visual - among the many other visuals of buildings collapsing, temples being washed away, vehicles drowning - showed the only upright structure that was up to the neck in water, but didn't look like it was going to budge. I was struck - by awe - and kept gaping at this visual as if it had me in a trance. There seldom comes an opportunity where you can say you witnessed an act of God. There's something so stoic about this image (and the video), that makes you think that maybe, just maybe, this is one of those.

I have always wanted to comment on the political system of our country but often wondered where to begin. In all honesty, I even tried writing a bit about it, but it just sounded like a whiny story of an unhappy citizen. In view of the upcoming elections, this seemed like a good time. Political commentary is a tough task. What should we talk about - the microcosm of things or the macrocosm of it? For instance should I wonder how my local corporation is functioning, how is my constituency doing -- infrastructure-wise, development-wise -- or should I worry about how the country is being governed at large? To tell the truth, I really don't know. Because I'm not connected to the political system at all. From a very young age I was told, politics is not a good thing. So I stayed out of it, but today I'm being asked to vote. They say it's my responsibility as a citizen, my right to choose. So I set off in search of a candidate, I realized this a good time to put my head

Well there's a lot that transpired through the month of March. There was a book and a couple of movies that left quite an impression, to say the least. A mobile app I cannot draw my attention away from and of course mangoes and soothing drinks that have announced the arrival of summer in full swing. That explains my brief absence from the blogosphere. Getting straight to the point, I'll begin with the book - The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish I am great fan of author Amish's story-telling technique. He is generally precise and to-the-point with his narrative. Good, brief descriptions and explanations and a seamless blending of facts with fiction. But with this book, I thought something, somewhere was amiss. It's a good read, no doubt, but the pace and intensity were lost somewhere. Not as sharp as the first two books - The immortals of Meluha and The secret of the Nagas. The former being my personal favorite. I'd say, in the war between Good and Evil

To say she had me at hello would be a lie. It took me a while to get into the flow of things but it'll be fair to say that two weeks after reading the book, it's all I can think about. Given a busy schedule (that we all have), I had stopped reading. At all. Nothing. I was a writer by profession and I didn't read any more (How does that work? Don't ask.) It was sad, I had forgotten how a book can make you feel. Where it can take you, the other world you step into for a brief period. How time lapses, you can't tell. Well, after reading this brilliant piece of work, in addition to all of this, I felt good about myself. I felt enriched. I bow down to thee Anne Fadiman for making me think, learn and laugh, all at the same time. Twelve essays, each distinctly different from the other, but the one thing that tied them all together, was the author. The style of writing is exceptional and each essay has the backing of some extensive (read laborious) research. She we

This, trust me is easier said than done. There are things and people and circumstances that make you happy, but how do you maintain that state? It's a blissful one to be in, I think we will all agree. How do you keep your past from affecting your present? And your present reckons your future. It's all connected. Things are a certain way today, they will be in another tomorrow and we have no control over that, but what we can do, and should do, is remain happy. How do we achieve this feat now, you ask? Well I'm no sage but here are a few things that I think work: 1. Smile a lot :-) . At all times in fact. Sometimes you may have to fake it, but how this works is, is that while faking the smile, you may forget what upset you momentarily. And then maybe you'll realize what you were upset about was probably really silly. 2. Don't over-analyze . This is my disease. We thinkers think about everything. You see we like to be prepared. But many a time, things may n