Belong To Me

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"Imagine an enormous strutting peacock with the whole jeweled city for a tail" - that's how Cornelia Brown describes herself in the beginning - and yet she gives up the adventure and unpredictability of city life to escape to a suburban utopia. With her husband, Teo, she moves to a neighborhood much like the one they both grew up in - but to her dismay, Cornelia discovers that suburbia is not exactly the safe haven she was hoping for.

Piper Truitt is the Queen Bee of the neighborhood. Always impeccably turned out, with perfect nails and hair, with an opinion on everything under the sun and a set of rules that circumscribe her life completely - Piper would be completely at home in an episode of Desperate Housewives. Judgmental and with impossibly high standards, it is no surprise that Piper and Cornelia dislike each other on sight. But Piper's frostiness hides a turbulent heart, and her fierce love for her dying friend trumps all her other faults.

Cornelia has just about resigned herself to being the neighborhood pariah - when a saving grace appears in the form of Lake Tremain. The two bond over a shared love for pasta, literature and old movies. Like Cornelia, Lake has recently arrived in the town, so that her near-genius son, Dev, could attend a school for the gifted. A single mother, she has worked very hard to provide her son with all the right opportunities. But like Piper, there is more to Lake than meets the eye - and the secret she is harboring will eventually almost destroy the life she has painstakingly built up.

Three women, three lives, three stories - through their individual stories and mutual interactions, Marisa de los Santos spins an extraordinary tale of love, trust, betrayal and loss. On one end, Cornelia and Piper, whose mutual dislike evolves into first a grudging understanding and then a tentative friendship. The other end is Lake, whose instant rapport with Cornelia ends with disgrace and shame. Along with them, the other people in their life - especially, Cornelia's husband, Teo, and Lake's son, Dev - are drawn into a vortex of emotion, which will shake all relations to the core, ultimately teaching them all about belonging and acceptance.

This is a gorgeously written book, the lyrical descriptions of people, places, situations are absolutely mouth-watering - that alone would make the book a wonderful read!! And there's so much more - the characters are a delight, sharply drawn and vividly, lovingly brought to life. The situations these characters find themselves in, the mistakes they make are all too real - both their happiness and sorrow drawing the reader in - I was completely hooked! It has been a while since I've read such a 'real' book - a book that I could lose myself in, a book to savor, a book to stay up late for!

Piper's story - her defiance of death, her struggling to come to terms with her best friend's illness - had me in tears more than once. But in retrospect, it didn't really add anything to the main story - you could lift out that whole track and not miss a beat. And Piper does kind of disappear towards the end of the book - almost like she had played her part, and then made an exit! The climax didn't thrill me either - the raw emotion, the visceral grab-you-by-your-throat feelings all get packaged away neatly with a tidy red ribbon on top as well. Everyone gets a happy ending - and I think a grittier conclusion would have pushed the book to a completely different level!

Make no mistake, though - I loved the book! And I really loved Marisa de los Santos' style of writing - I'm eagerly anticipating more of her novels! Meanwhile, I'm going back for a second helping of 'Belong to Me'! Grab your own copy - now! Happy reading!

Aankhen (2002)

Having suffered through a succession of increasingly idiotic Bollywood films - Happy New Year and Bang Bang being the latest, and let's not forget Dhoom 3 - all big budget, big star cast films which were a huge, huge letdown - I've almost given up on Hindi films! Time for rewind - and a film which I've felt never really received the credit it truly deserves - Aankhen - a true blue Bollywood heist film, replete with emotion, drama, humor and even an item song or two!

Vijay Rajput (Amitabh Bachchan) has obsessively dedicated his entire life to the Vilas Jefferson bank - and when he is fired for brutally assaulting another employee, he comes up with a diabolical plan to avenge himself by robbing his own bank. Rajput hires 3 henchmen to pull off the heist - the twist, the 3 hired hands - Vishwas, Arjun & Ilias (Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal & Paresh Rawal respectively) are all blind. Neha (Sushmita Sen), a teacher at a blind school, is coerced into training the team. And so begins a dangerous game...

As can be expected, the 3 thieves-to-be have a long way to go before they can actually go loot the bank - and while the training sessions are a little repetitive, they are also necessary - not only does this screen time emphasize the blood, sweat and tears aspect of this 'workshop', the audience also gets to see the budding camaraderie within the team and also with Neha. This is what I want to see in a heist film - the actual planning, the hows, and the whens, and the ironing out of kinks by practicing over and over again - totally not needed are slomo shots of the thief leaving the scene of crime in a blaze of glory - are you listening, SRK and Aamir?

And even after all the dry-runs, the actual robbery is nail-bitingly tense - will they pull it off, and more important, what does Rajput have in store for the trio after the robbery? And the tension doesn't end there - the story skids off in a totally different direction, hurtling along at breakneck speed, not at all what I was expecting. Doesn't take too long for things to start going downhill and Rajput soon finds himself in a precarious position - his meticulously woven web of intrigue in tatters. The ending, too, is startlingly ambiguous....please, please tell me there's going to be a sequel!

The casting is spot-on - Amitabh steals the show with his menacing Rajput, but Akshay Kumar is a close second - he has the body language of a blind person down perfectly! Paresh Rawal, as always, is in a class of his own - his wise-cracks are a much needed dose of levity in this drama! Sushmita Sen - I'm always partial to her - she comes across as so sensible and intelligent, and her tightrope act between professionalism and her grief, especially at the climax - an awesome performance! Arjun Rampal - meh! A pretty face and nothing much else - it's a good thing that all the others are so strong!!

This film is based on a popular Gujarati play - so understandably, the script is a star here. Tightly written, no loopholes, no loose ends - very coherent, very precise. I especially loved the word play on the names of the characters - Neha - eyes - what better name for a teacher of blind? Vishwas - trust - for the person who trusts the least? Arjun - the archer - for the most lousy shot? Rajput - a synonym for upright honesty - as the most crooked crook? I'm hoping this was intentional - in either case, absolutely loved it!! A world away from naming the main lead 'Charlie', so his team can later be referred to as the 'Charlie's Angels' - really, Farah Khan??!!

To wrap up - skip Happy New Year - watch Aankhen instead! Happy viewing!!

Happy New Year (2014)

The promos of 'Happy New Year' made it seem like a daring heist movie, along the lines of Ocean's Eleven - add Farah Khan's madcap zaniness, SRK's charisma and Deepika's megawatt star power - sounds like it's going to be a really happy new year, and that too, in October! So, does the film measure up? Well, here it is - no holds barred...

The 'plot' - Charlie (SRK) burns to avenge his father - Manohar (Anupam Kher in an 'emotional' appearance) - who was duped by Charan Grover (Jackie Shroff) and sentenced to a very, very long time in prison for a crime he did not commit. So Charlie assembles a rag-tag team - Tammy (Boman Irani), Jack (Sonu Sood), Nandu (Abhishek), Rohan (Vivaan Shah) and the dazzling Mohini (Deepika). The master plan - steal diamonds worth Rs. 300 crores - or is it dollars - from an impregnable vault 150 feet below the famed Atlantis - yes, the one in Dubai - and in such a way that Charan and his son, Vicky are framed for the crime. Oh also, there's a 'World Dance Competition' being conducted at the Atlantis - which provides the perfect cover for the mission!

Okay, where do I start?? Hmm - Atlantis? Because we were there last year, and it was a pretty big reason for me to watch the movie? What about the Atlantis? Well, just one teeny question - WHY?? The Atlantis silhouette is the backdrop in many a scene, and there are - let me see if I can remember - 3 scenes inside? Yes, 3 scenes - one in the lobby, with a blink-and-miss shot of the signature blue sculpture, a second in one of the water suites with one wall looking over the aquarium, and the third - wait for it - in the dolphin pool!! And yes, how can I forget the aerial shots of the fireworks over the Palm islands?? So, the Atlantis must be integral to the plot, right - well, umm, no, not really - just another cheap, gimmicky, publicity stunt, that's what this magnificent hotel has been reduced to. What a shame!

Next? Obviously the plot - what an optimistic word, plot! - Charlie's grandiose plan to dance his team into the safest safe in the world. Again and again - the big million dollar - no wait, the 300 crore dollar - question, WHY?? Why are the diamonds in Dubai - no direct flights from Praetoria to Antwerp? Why the whole learning-to-dance buffoonery? Why the face-off with the Korean team? Why a vault 150 feet below the Atlantis? No, really, why a vault below the Atlantis, and why are the diamonds stashed here?? Why is it so easy to 'hackofy' the security system of the world's best security agency? Why is the password to unlock the safe so, so easy?? And don't even get me started on the 'master plan'!! The escape route - really, is that meant to be innovative?, the cover-up - the fake brick wall covering the vent, yeah, right, that's going to fool all the cops!! And this one takes the cake - the plan to take the diamonds through Customs - why, pass them off as ice in a drink - umm, no drinks are allowed through Security? Details, details!! Aarghh!! So much potential - squandered away hopelessly!!

Can't be all bad, right - what about the stellar cast, each and every one capable of carrying a bad film on their shoulders! Well, let's start with the big gun himself - King Khan, Charlie. All I have to say is - dude, let it go, a zillion abs do not a sexy body make. And the deliberately pontificating dialogue delivery - so not working!! Boman Irani - such a charming actor, limited here to a bumbling Parsee caricature. Sonu Sood - playing a deaf ex-Army bomb expert whose shirt flies off at the slightest provocation - his understated performance is probably the best thing about this film!! Abhishek - in a double role, no less, playing both Vicky Grover and his look-alike, Nandu - a street ruffian, whose 'talent' is his ability to vomit prodigiously. No, not funny. Throw-up is never funny. That leaves Vivaan - Rohan the juvenile hacker - this here is Naseeruddin Shah's son? And of course the belle, Deepika, playing Mohini, a bar dancer with - eyes rolling here - a heart of gold, who falls for - surprise, surprise - Charlie!! Cliche, much?!! Stellar cast - you bet!! And yet...

And the humor - oh the humor. Already mentioned the vomiting - never, ever funny. Grown up men dancing in tutus. Closet gay men dressed in pink boas. Bouncers with names like Pinky, Sweety, Babli. Abhishek's snake dance. Daisy Irani reminding her son, Boman, to wash his underwear. Referring to Korean dancers with different Indo-Chinese dishes. Lampooning Saroj Khan - now that was plain mean. Bad English - including misspellings and mispronunciations. All the movie references - Devdas, Chak De, Damini, all of Farah Khan and SRK's repertoire - nothing is spared. None of this, yes, none of this is funny. Not even remotely funny. Not even it's-so-ridiculous-but-still-makes-me-laugh funny. And that probably is the biggest downfall of Happy New Year. A lot of plot holes and hamming can be overlooked if a movie makes you laugh - here, what was passed off as humor was nothing but horrifying!

The irony is that I'm a huge SRK fan - and I would have gladly seized upon any shred of redemption for Happy New Year. Sadly, there is none. Even more ironical is the fact that this asinine film has broken all box-office records - which leaves the actors and director to claim that they have public acclaim - critics and reviews be damned. No contrition about unleashing this travesty on unsuspecting fans. Happy New Year, indeed!

Wild Swans - 3 Daughters of China

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Part memoir, part biography, part autobiography - Wild Swans is a chronicle of the struggle and survival of 3 generations of author Jung Chang's family in the tumultuous 20th century of modern China. It is an astounding personal account of a now well-known history, facts which are at times more disturbing than fiction could ever be! 3 women, 3 generations, 3 lives - so different, and yet bound by a common thread of strength and resilience!

The first is the author's grandmother, born during the unpredictable years of the overthrow of the Manchu empire. The beautiful Yu-Fang, a valuable bargaining chip for her father, has her feet bound to increase her potential market value - and is eventually taken as a concubine by a powerful warlord, General Xue. A baby daughter is born to them, and a couple of years later, Yu-Fang is fortunate enough to be given her independence by the dying General. Overcoming the stigma of having been a concubine, she finds love with Dr. Xia - an elderly widower who overcomes strong family opposition to marry Yu-Fang, and also adopts her daughter, De-hong - the author's mother.

De-hong, the second of the 'swans' - lives through some of China's most pivotal and turbulent moments. The Japanese occupation, the struggle between Mao Zedong's Communists and Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, the ascendancy of the Communist party, the initial fervor and goodwill of the  Communist movement - De-hong soon becomes an officer of the Party and marries a die-hard, principled Communist, Wang Yu. The idealism of Communism soon degenerates into an atmosphere of distrust, suspicion and persecution. The consecutive Three Antis and Five Antis campaigns, the Anti-rightist campaign, and the Hundred Flowers policy lead to widespread insecurity, hatred, denunciation and massacres of thousands. Increasingly disillusioned, the author's parents struggle to keep faith with the Party policies, until finally, they themselves become targets.

Despite the catastrophic failure of the Great Leap Forward, and the devastating famine that followed, Map Zedong's cult went from strength to strength. An entire generation of youth, including the author, was indoctrinated to believe in the god-like status of Chairman Mao. Through the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and the unrelenting, debasing persecution of her parents, the author never loses faith in Mao. The Reform through Labour campaign sees the author sent to a remote village at the edge of Himalayas - where she works first as a peasant and a barefoot doctor. Relocating later to Chengdu, she also works as a steelworker and then an electrician. It is only after Mao's death and the fall of the Gang of Four that the author is able to enroll in an university, and then finally, win a scholarship to study in the West.

To be very honest, I did not really enjoy reading this book. It did not shed any new light on China's Communist history and Mao's disastrous reign. Despite all the hardships, it is very clear that the author and her family led a fairly privileged life as high-ranking Communists - makes it a little hard to sympathize when the author talks about receiving extra food coupons during the famine which killed millions!! The author's naivety - meant to be endearing - borders on simplistic ignorance, and it was a little strange to read about the natural beauty of the villages and the view from hospital windows when there were obviously larger issues at stake!! Even her father's defiance, his admirable principled stand - it is obvious that the author idolizes her father, and the hero-worship makes him out to be a paragon of Communist virtue.

Of the three swans, the author's grandmother comes across as the strongest character. From saving her infant daughter from the General's wife, to standing up to Dr. Xia's family, and ultimately, taking on the responsibility of her grandchildren - I especially loved here little gestures of defiance like wearing her long with flowers! The author's mother, undoubtedly, had a lot of hardship - her husband's callous indifference is something no woman should have to tolerate, and her regret at the end of the book about not having any family memories could be that of any career woman today! As for the author - right to the end when she uses her parents' contacts to get a back-door entry into University, just seems like she was coasting along when there were others drowning in the maelstrom!

Very rarely do I not finish a book - but I came close with this one. I do wish the author had written only about the First Swan, her grandmother - that would have definitely been way more interesting!!

Half of a Yellow Sun

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I absolutely loved Cutting for Stone, a novel set in Ethiopia - so it was with great anticipation that I started reading 'Half of a Yellow Sun', another novel of Africa, set in 1960s Nigeria. Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie powerfully captures the rise and tragically short struggle of Biafra to establish itself as an independent country in the southwest part of Nigeria. The name of the novel comes from the flag of the ill-fated nation, destined to become a mere footnote in the annals of African history!

In a newly independent Nigeria, Olanna and Kainene are twin sisters belonging to a wealthy and influential family. Olanna is in love with Odenigbo, a professor and an intellectual - and she leaves a life of privilege in Lagos to live with him in the university town of Nsukka. Their household includes Ugwu, a 13 year old villager, who works as Odenigbo's houseboy. Kainene, although Olanna's twin, resembles her in only 1 way - her unconventionality. Richard, a British expat in Nigeria, is inexorably drawn to Kainene's droll wit and enigmatic bearing.

The novel switches back and forth between the early 1960s and the end of the decade - the early part of the book introduces the main characters, their almost banal domesticity, but it also sets the stage for the upcoming unrest, the conflict between the Hausa and Igbo communities of Nigeria. 1966 saw coup followed by a counter-coup and the merciless, senseless massacre of thousands of Christian Igbo living in the mainly Muslim Hausa-dominated North - which directly led to an Igbo secession, and the formation of the new Republic of Biafra, and then the inevitable civil war. With Nsukka under attack, Olanna and Odenigbo flee to Umuahia with Ugwu and their daughter, Baby - and then after the fall of Umuahia, finally move in with Kainene and Richard. With a dire shortage of food and medicine, Kainene decides to trade across enemy lines...

I liked the flow of the novel - the moving across times, the comfort and luxury of the pre-war days contrasting starkly with the deprivation and desperation of the civil war. The mystery of the fallout between Olanna and Kainene - though easy to guess - adds to the tense atmosphere, but seems just a tad contrived, the easiest plot device for the sisters' estrangement. And while the prose is beautiful, the characters themselves seem to be a little flat and dry - the passion, anger, outrage and even the fear does not come across, making it hard to sympathize - they remain fictional characters, never rising into the otherwise charged atmosphere of the novel.

The civil war is central to the novel - and like all wars, has not only stories of the most degrading atrocities, but also of noble sacrifices and selflessness. The author is at her best writing about the war, about the misery and helplessness, the starvation. The queuing up for meager supplies, the heartbreak of mothers unable to provide for their children, the slow strangling of Biafra - it is all straight from the heart. Tying in the history with the fiction are snippets from the novel-within-a-novel - 'The World Was Silent When We Died' - and the identity of the author comes as a surprise, and in Adichie's own words, it makes a political point about who should be writing the stories of Africa.

Which brings me to the expats - on one side is Richard, who considers himself as Biafran, all the way across the spectrum to the pair of American journalists - both called Charles, their callous indifference a comment on the indifference of the world powers? And it is actually Richard who irritates the most - the typical expat who identifies with a 'cause', his Biafran identity seems to be a mere extension of his obsession with Kainene. The journalists are almost caricatures and while their inclusion was puzzling - Richard's passivity is really annoying.

The brutal effects of colonization, the insidious politics of divide-and-rule policies, the seeds of distrust knowingly sowed between peacefully co-existing cultures, the massacres in the name of religion, the horrors of civil war, the hatred that percolates through generations - all these strike a deep, bitter chord within me. Half of a Yellow Sun could be a novel about India and the Partition - and for me, this made a very personal connection to the novel. The not-so-obvious effects of colonization - the degradation of culture and language, the existence of 'elite' anglophones, a twisted sense of history - again, this story of Nigeria is the story of so many nations today!

Half of a Yellow Sun is not a novel easily forgotten. Despite its shortcomings, the story it tells is real and profound. The war has ended, life goes on - but the scars will always remain. May we never forget!

Mahabharat - then and now...

In a nutshell, the Mahabharata is a tale of warring cousins and their epic conflict which engulfed all the kingdoms of ancient India. Of course, it is almost impossible to keep track of the numerous subplots and off-shoots to the main narrative - the scope almost too vast too comprehend! I grew up listening to stories from the Mahabharata at my grandmother's knee - at that time, without fully getting the moral struggles, the utter humanity of all the larger-than-life characters. And yet this humanity is what makes the Mahabharata so irresistible - the protagonists are all flawed as can be, and yet strive to attain the ultimate salvation - moksha.

It is no wonder then that when B.R.Chopra's 'Mahabharata' was first telecast as televised serial in 1988, it was an instant hit! Sunday mornings were sacrosanct - entire cities came to a standstill, as millions tuned in to watch the latest episode! By no means was this interpretation perfect - the special effects left a lot to be desired, the actors were all oh-so-dramatic and over the top, the costumes (including the ridiculous weapons) were laughable at best! The funniest were the war scenes - I still remember the 2 arrows zooming towards each other in slow-mo, and then one destroying the other, followed by close-ups of the shocked face of the loser, and the smirk on the face of the victor!

Despite all the flaws, however, this Mahabharata was still eminently watchable - and most of the credit should go to the rock-solid screenplay, crisp dialogues and the soulful couplets - all written by Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza. Using Samay - Time - as the narrator was an absolute masterstroke, and Harish Bhimani's unforgettable baritone 'Main Samay Hoon...' still echoes in my ears after so many years! Towering performances by Nitish Bharadwaj as Krishna and Mukesh Khanna as Bheeshma made it easy to overlook the shortcomings of the rest of the cast! Bharadwaj especially, was beyond fantastic - for millions of viewers, he was, and still is, the very embodiment of Krishna! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that an entire generation was introduced to this magnificent epic in the most entertaining way possible!

And although the tale of the Mahabharata remains immortal, the 1980s TV series appears to be quite dated on recent viewing. So when the new version of the Mahabharata was announced with much fanfare - I was quite curious to watch this new take on the epic. Hopefully a more grounded, contemporary approach - treating the classic as historical rather than mythological? Better special effects for sure, but also a deeper exploration of the grey areas? Spectacularly realistic war scenes, maybe even like those seen in the Lord of the Rings films?

Alas, the new show is mostly fluff - more glitz and glamor, much less substance! The actors are all toned and buffed - without exception, everyone looks like they spent hours at the gym! Pandavas and Kauravas alike sport designer stubbles, and blow-dried hair - the salon is probably where they go after they're done with the gym! The same dhotis and angvastras, the same elaborate crowns - oh wait, the jewellery is better, and to make it easier to keep track of the different characters, each person has their unique jewellery! To say the acting is terrible would be an understatement - while veterans like Sudesh Berry and Puneet Issar are tolerable, no-one seems to have told all the newcomers that they were on the sets of a TV show, and not on a ramp of a fashion show! Arav Chaudhary makes a valiant effort as Bheeshma, but dressing him exactly like Mukesh Khanna on the previous show only serves to highlight his lack of screen presence! As for Krishna - I'll just say that Nitish Bharadwaj is sorely missed!!

The special effects, too, aren't really 'special' - the computer graphics are completely visible in most places and not much of an upgrade either! The episode with the Varnavat fire, or Draupadi's birth - could have been spectacular, but are surprisingly shoddy! And where exactly is this Hastinapur supposed to be located - surrounded by waterfalls and mountains - reminds me of Rivendell from Middle Earth! The sets are opulent enough, but again, they just seem to have used the earlier versions as templates, and then added more bling! Also unlike the 1980s series, which took its own time meandering about all the different back stories - the new version is on the fast track, completely bypassing anything other than the main thread.

So why am I still watching? - well, there's so much scope for improvement, that I can't but help hope that things will get better! And not everything is a loss - I really like the camaraderie between the Pandavas, the playful banter is really good! Saurav Gurjar as Bheem is getting better and better, and Shaheer Sheikh's vulnerable Arjun is clearly the best of the lot. I'm also liking the way Draupadi's character is shaping up - from standing up to Kunti, to playing an integral part as an advisor to Yudhishtir, this Draupadi is certainly not just an ornament! So, I'm in for the ride - for better or worse!

At the end of the day, it is the Mahabharata itself that is the clear winner - how can anyone go wrong with such a powerful saga? With its lessons on dharma and karma, the Mahabharata is as relevant today as it was centuries ago - and in any of its versions, will always remain the most popular epic of all!

The Secret Keeper

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The year is 1961 - a drowsy summer day, an idyllic farmhouse in rural England - 16 year old Laurel has found the perfect place to hide from her boisterous family. She knows she will have to join them soon - it is her brother's birthday picnic, after all - but for now, she is savoring the quiet moments, content to dream about the boy she has just met, their secret rendezvous later in the afternoon, and her big plans for the future. Lost in her reverie, she doesn't notice the stranger until he has almost reached the house - and the terrible, shocking crime that follows will forever change the way she regards her family, especially her mother, Dorothy.

Fifty years later, Laurel - now a well-established, famous actress - returns to her childhood home to celebrate her mother's ninetieth birthday. It is not a happy occasion, though - Dorothy Nicholson is in the hospital, on her death bed. An accidental discovery of a photograph from May 1941 - Dorothy with a friend, laughing at the camera, and an old inscription in a book - 'For Dorothy, A true friend is a light in the dark, -Vivien', unleash a volley of memories that have been long buried. Laurel is convinced that the name Vivien is somehow connected to the horrific events of that long ago afternoon - and she sets off on a quest to unravel this mystery, to find answers to the overwhelming questions that surround her mother - but will she be able to face the secrets that she brings to light?

From the Pre-War days in London to the Blitz years to Life After the War - the Secret Keeper is a story of love and longing, of tragedy and hope, of dreams and heartbreak, of lost opportunities and second chances, and above all, of secrets and their fateful consequences! It is the story of Dorothy and Vivien and Jimmy - three very different people who find their lives inextricably linked together. It is the story of Laurel and her siblings, and her struggle to understand and forgive her mother's youthful transgressions. Alternating between Laurel's present day investigations and the events of the 1940s, the story comes full circle with a startling twist at the end!

The book starts off a bit slow - indeed, at the beginning it almost felt like I was reading a teenage romance - and although the pace never picks up significantly, the story does get a lot more interesting! The characters are built up lovingly and in great detail, the dialogues - especially between the Nicholson siblings - so natural, that soon, that the characters almost step out of the pages as real flesh-and-blood people! Same for the settings - Greenacres, the houses on Camden street, Jimmy's apartment, the blackouts during the air-raids - they all have a genuine lived-in feel that transports you in space and time! Needless to say, the prose is rich and evocative - such vivid imagery, that it was almost like reading a picture book! The flip side, inevitably, is that there are long stretches where the descriptions take over the story, and the plot doesn't really move anywhere!

The plot is quite convoluted - lot of seemingly minor incidents and details are strewn throughout the non-linear narrative - there certainly were a couple of times when I flipped back through the book to catch something I had missed the first time! It's also a little contrived how Laurel finds all the clues in perfect order - there's no struggle, all very convenient and a tad too easy! Besides, why didn't she just talk to her mother in the first place - instead of waiting 50 years for her mother to be too sick too explain! I'm sure Dorothy would have been happy to enlighten her daughter - but then again, that wouldn't have made much of a book! Vivien's 'perfectness' also bothered me a little - in a book where most other characters are deliciously messy, Vivien seems to be almost too good to be true!

The twist in the tale, the surprise ending is what made this book the talk of the town. I don't want to give away the ending, although I will say this - for a die-hard Bollywood fan, brought up on a steady diet of the most improbable, illogical and unbelievable lost-and-found, mistaken identity and secret-pact plots, the 'surprise' ending is visible from a mile away! To give the author credit, there are no inconsistencies in the story, the clues - yes, there are clues - are subtle, and all the red herrings dovetail beautifully at the end. I read the book a second time - I admit it, I was looking for plot holes - but knowing the ending, I enjoyed the author's skill even more!

A mysterious romance or a romantic mystery - either way, Kate Morton's Secret Keeper is certainly a delightful read! Enjoy the ride, but pay close attention - you might just solve the mystery before the last chapter! Happy Reading!

Dhoom 3 (2013)

What is it that makes a movie work? That extra invisible ingredient that can make or break? Dhoom 3 has everything going for it - the prestigious Yash Raj banner, the successful Dhoom franchise, most expensive Hindi movie ever, the first Bollywood film to be released in Imax, a stellar cast headlined by Mr. Perfectionist, Aamir Khan, and the incandescent Katrina Kaif - all the makings of the biggest blockbuster ever! And yet...

The story starts in Chicago, 1990. A struggling circus owner, Iqbal Haroon Khan (Jackie Shroff) makes a last-ditch attempt to convince the Western Bank of Chicago to give him an extension on his loan. Ignoring the desperate pleas of Mr. Khan's son, Sahir, the bank decides to foreclose. Unable to cope with the loss, Mr. Khan commits suicide, leaving Sahir heartbroken. Cut to present day - a grown-up Sahir (Aamir Khan) has but 1 mission in life - to completely destroy the heartless bank that destroyed his father's dream. He embarks on a series of robberies - targeting only branches of the Western Bank of Chicago, always leaving behind a clown's mask and a message in Hindi. Cue ACP Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachhan) and his sidekick, Ali (Uday Chopra) who are called in from Mumbai to help with this baffling case. The stage is set for a thrilling game of cops and robbers...

The USP of the earlier Dhoom films was very clear - no holds barred, unapologetic action flicks, mindless paisa-vasool entertainers. Dhoom 3 tries to give its 'bad guy' Sahir a background, a motive - and while this should have added layers to the film, infusing the action with emotion, Sahir's back story is so poorly conceptualized that it ultimately proves to be the undoing of Dhoom 3. Seriously, a evil banker and foreclosure? That's the motive for a lifetime of revenge? What irked me most was the cavalier suicide of Mr. Khan - what kind of parent leaves their kids to fend for themselves? Films like 'Pursuit of Happyness' and 'Life is Beautiful' have shown us the extraordinary lengths fathers can go to for their kids, and here is a mainstream Bollywood film, trying to pass off a father's irresponsible suicide as being somehow noble! What were the scriptwriters thinking??

So much for the emotional angle! The action and the songs should have more than enough to salvage the movie, right? Surprisingly, all the bike chases have a jaded, where-have-I-seen-this-before feel to them. A movie about a thief, and there is not single heist shown - only Sahir fleeing away from the scene of crime. Really, what purpose does it serve to have Aamir Khan walk down the side of the building - wouldn't it have been better to explain how he got into the building, and then robbed the bank? And how unintentionally hilarious was the bike that morphs into a submarine and then back into a bike? I was half expecting it to sprout a pair of wings next and take to the air - now that would have been something! And Abhishek hanging from the helicopter - didn't we see this already in Dhoom 2?

The look!

Even with all this, there is still some hope - after all, this is a Aamir Khan vehicle! Yes, it is Aamir Khan's show all the way, and I only have one question - what's with the look??? Aamir's Sahir goes through the entire film with his jaws clenched, eyebrows drawn down into a scowl - seriously, this expression never leaves his face! I honestly thought this was Aamir's worst performance ever! Speaking of scowls - is Abhishek so surly because he's doomed to play second fiddle in what essentially is his franchise? Lighten up, dude! Uday Chopra is actually better than Abhishek - he has found the one note that he can play passably well, and he sticks to it!

The climax is strangely appropriate - if the entire film hasn't made sense, it is entirely befitting that the climax should be astoundingly jaw-droppingly unbelievable! If anyone can explain how the entire cast got from Chicago to the Hoover Dam in the space of a night, I would be very grateful! Where is your celebrated script sense, Aamir? What a disappointment! And yet, this debacle has smashed all box-office records - so what do I know? Go watch it, and judge for yourself - or take my word, and watch Dhoom 2 instead!

The Phantom Tollbooth

Image courtesy: Goodreads

Milo is a perfectly normal boy - with too much time on his hands, and not enough ways to use it up. Nothing he does or learns seems to have a point, nowhere he goes seems interesting enough. Alone with his unhappy thoughts, the big, bustling world often feels small and empty to him. Then one day, Milo returns home to find a large package addressed to him - "ONE GENUINE TURNPIKE TOLLBOOTH - IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED" - and since he has nothing better to do, he drives his electric car through the Tollbooth, and finds himself in the Kingdom of Wisdom, where many adventures await!

I always try to read all the books my daughter brings home - mainly to make sure she's not reading anything inappropriate - more honestly, because children's books are so much fun! It's also unexpectedly rewarding when, once in a while, comes along a book that far transcends the genre of 'Children's books', a book which is quite simply - more than a story! 'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster falls firmly in this category, and I have to admit that I'm absolutely bowled over! Quirky, funny, witty, highly entertaining, wonderfully brought to life by Jules Feiffer's whimsical illustrations - this is one children's book that should find its way to all bookshelves!

The story is simple enough - as Milo makes his way through the Kingdom of Wisdom, he finds himself on a quest to rescue the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason from the Castle of Air. He starts at Expectations - "Expectations is the place you must always go before you get to where you're going" -  and soon finds himself stuck in the Doldrums - where "nothing ever happens, nothing ever changes" - only to be rescued by Tock, the watchdog. Onwards to Dictionopolis, where words are grown on trees, and then through the Forest of Sight and Valley of Sound, to the twin cities of Reality and Illusion - then finally after an unanticipated detour to the island of Conclusions, Milo arrives in Digitopolis, where numbers are mined!

The people he meets along the way are as strange and confusing as the land Milo finds himself in. The kings of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, respectively Azaz the Unabridged and the Mathemagician, are brothers who agree to disagree. The Lethargians - who inhabit the Doldrums, the Faintly Macabre Which and the Soundkeeper - keepers of words and sound, Chroma the Great - conductor of the orchestra of color, the Spelling Bee and his nemesis, the Humbug, the Dodecahedron whose impassioned expostulation about the beauty of numbers is one of the high points in the book - what a wonderful array of characters! I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite if I had to!

Milo sets off on his quest with the loyal Tock and the brash Humbug - but rescuing the princesses is not an easy task. Through the Mountains of Ignorance Milo battles on, facing demons as varied as the characters he has met before - the Terrible Trivium, the Senses Taker, the Triple Demons of Compromise, the Gorgons of Hate and Malice, and the seemingly harmless but equally dangerous, Threadbare Excuse and Gross Exaggeration! Goes without saying that Milo triumphs over all these terrifying demons, and rescues the princesses - and when he returns in triumph, he finds that he has just done something that was actually impossible to do! In the words of the kings - "so many things are possible just as long as you don't know they are impossible"!

What I love most about is this book, is that all ages can enjoy it on different levels. Read it to your younger children - they will love the simply told adventures of Milo and his companions. Older children, who often wonder why they have to learn to spell or multiply, will see how important numbers and words really are - "in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other weft"! As for adults, this book is an allegory - the simple words and interesting story are but a facade to the story of all our lives. How many of us have been stuck in the Doldrums, and not known how to move on? Or jumped to Conclusions, never knowing that the only escape is through the Sea of Knowledge? And as we struggle daily to find Rhyme and Reason, how many of us have fallen prey to the Demons of Ignorance?

So although results are never guaranteed - go ahead, pick up a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth - if not perfectly satisfied, your wasted time will be refunded! Happy Reading!