'Intimacy' - Hanif Kureishi

"It is the saddest night, for I am leaving and not coming back."...Thus begins 'Intimacy' by Hanif Kureishi which tells the story of Jay, a middle aged writer who is about to leave his partner of 10 years, Susan and their two sons and going to live temporarily with his friend Victor. The novel describes the state of Jay's mind the night before he decides to leave his family for good. Jay tries to justify his decision and also reflects his life with Susan and the sons. The small details of his family and his likes and dislikes towards its members gets zeroed in on this narrative. The book depicts the restlessness of Jay's mind as he reasons his longings, complains about what he did not get out of that life which he is about to leave and endeavors to hold on to what is very dear to him, as for example his relation with his two sons.The night before he will leave his house, Jay reflects on the change that underwent in his relationship with Susan, over the course of time, accepts his misgivings and tries to imagine the life his family will have after he is gone. 
The story flashes back and forth in time as Jay remembers the time he spent with his parents, how he used to look upon his father and the way his mother's indifference affected him. Jay also remembers about his friends, their relationship with the spouses, the lovers he had, especially Nina, a girl much younger to him. His leaving the family sometimes suggests his wish to be with Nina and sometimes that very reason fades away in the protagonist's denial. In 'Intimacy', the author portrays a certain aspect of human life, where uncertainty attempt to paralyze our spirit, age to restrict the risk-takings but the mind compels to break-free and savor the fantasies. 
The language of the novel is crisp, bearing a nonchalance of speaking to our own selves. The decisions and the states of Jay's mind described are very honest and unapologetic. The novel is written in the voice of the protagonist and the reader sees his world through his eyes. 
The book catches my attention because of the situation it is in and the ways that emerge. It does not talk about idealism and is not reluctant about it. The book delves on very human problems, wishes and desperation which are very crudely humane. The only thing that does leave a gap is that the characters remains as  Jay's version of them only. They express themselves very little through dialogues and incidents which are their own and are not observed or judged by the protagonist. 


My favorite quote from the book: "Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately".


Image courtesy : http://books.google.com/books/about/Intimacy.html?id=zx2oAAAAIAAJ

Sau Gram Zindagi......

Yesterday, we went to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest movie 'Guzaarish'.....Bhansali is known for his larger-than-life portrayal of stories, scenes and the characters. His films transcends the viewers to a different world, to a space which is somewhere beyond reality but falls short of absolute fantasy.....thus leaving a lone cinematic possibility of being and the incidents happening.
'Guzaarish' dishes out the same intrigue and uniqueness and to top that, the film is shot by cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee with an excellence which seems less of a lens-work and more like an artiste's stroke on canvas....only it is celluloid...!!!
The story is plain....it just is about a well-known magician (played by Hrithik Roshan) , who, 14 years ago, met with a near fatal accident which leaves him quadriplegic. Being paralyzed physically, his health gradually deteriorates and after living, loving and suffering through his condition, he finally appeals unsuccessfully for Euthanasia (mercy killing). 
The story, as plain and with some constraints in the weaving of its details, acquires a certain level of drama with the maneuvering of the characters, their passion and demeanor, and the associated sequences. The gaps in writing has been somewhat covered by the camera and the director's expertise in the portrayal. The performances by the lead and character artiste's deserves mention. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's (playing the nurse to the ailing magician) mettle has been redefined, giving an impression that only Bhansali can understand, work out and make her come up with the best. Hrithik Roshan reasserts himself with respect to the acting skills as well as his drop-dead charisma, in this piece of cinema. The film expresses itself and flashes back into the incidents happened earlier in a very different and stylish manner ( I won't come out with the details here for keeping the magic intact for those who have not yet watched the movie), the scenes and colors are equally distinctive and used with defined sensibility. The costume and music, because of its unlikeness, went well with the narration.
For me, it was an experience worth having, except for a tad bit of melodrama in bits and pieces throughout and especially in the closing shot. Moreover much of the narration leaves many a things to the perception of the viewers, the expressions not as detailed as in his earlier films.......and this perspective of the movie may do either good or pose as a disadvantage for the movie  depending on the audiences' demand for clarity. 
'Guzaarish' is about the celebration of life and its moments.....the love we feel, but the movie does not blurt out the message, loud and clear..it flows underneath along the length of the film. 
I would have loved it rather more if it ended giving out a brighter sense of optimism as it intended to do, it seemed....but fell short for whatever reasons......
          "Thodi si teekhi hai, thodi meethi hai....
                 sau gram zindagi..........samhaal ke kharchi hai"

The most enriching read of this year..

Reading is my passion. It is said about me by my near and dear ones that I cannot spent a day without spending sometime with a printed material before my eyes. I happily agree to that notion. It's true that I love to read, be it anything like a newspaper article, writings of fellow bloggers, magazine bits and pieces, novels and non-fiction or even (if nothing's available) the community newsletter and everything with religious interest and attention....!!! 
Last year I read a novel that I loved and will always remember.... 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. It's the story of two friends in Afghanistan. This year, incidentally, another book on Afghanistan stood out of all my readings. This is not a novel though, but a work of non-fiction, named 'Good Morning Afghanistan. 

Waseem Mahmood, and award-winning broadcaster and an ex-BBC producer, writes this brilliant book about the radio programme (named, Good Morning Afghanistan) he, with his team, started in the nation ravaged by the unruly Taliban for over half a decade. After the fall of Taliban at the end of 2001, the radio programme voiced the concerns and the incidents that were taking place in the battered nation, helping the people in a way to get over the nightmare of years of war and irrational policing.

The book starts with the description of one of the heinous acts of terror in modern world, the 9/11 and how it shook the lives of a string of people mentioned in the book along with the thousands who bore the brunt of this destruction first-hand. Written with the lucidity of fiction and details of a document, Good Morning Afghanistan is a compilation of true incidents that happened in the course of one and a half year, beginning from September, 2001 to January, 2003. It reveals what Afghanistan went through during the course of the Taliban regime and what it takes for the people to recover from such huge material and emotional damage. It takes courage and persistence to bear the unnecessary and meaningless acts of cruelty and terror for so many years.

The book is a documentation of a nation starting afresh, after having lost almost every hope of getting back their usual way of life, with the radio programme giving them the first glimpse of hope.

I must say that I will remember this book as well with a heart full of compassion and respect for the brave people of Afghanistan.

'What is this Thing called Love' by Gene Wilder : How did I like it?

"What is this thing called Love" by Gene Wilder is a compilation of 12 stories based on love and the pathos, tragedy, doubts, and many other emotions attached with Love. So they are not exactly love stories but stories about love and its emotional companions. The stories aptly describe the many facades of love and the people in love. The skepticism of the characters, their emotional dilemmas and all their humane rights and wrongs bring liveliness and innocence to the stories. The writing is lucid, unlike the content which are more mature and sometimes complicated in their concept. The complex emotions and states of mind has been described with awesome simplicity. The tragedies and failures are described in a somewhat lighter way giving the pathos a silver lining of getting over. The stories exudes mystery (The Lady with the Red Hat), innocence ('In Love for the First Time' and 'The King of Hearts'), pain ('The Anniversary', 'The Birthday'), hope ('The kiss', 'Passion','Tango without Music'), desperation ('The Hollywood Producer'), heartbreak ('Are you really in Love' and 'My Old Flame') and playful love (The Flirt). The book conveys that every emotion related to love can assume the title of Love itself, and very often it does. Love remained in all the emotions of the stories mentioned above -- subdued, disguised in some and expressed in others. The stories convince the title as in describing the unending joy and peace love can bring.. as well as the sarcasm and pathos it can fill our lives with. 

I Hate Bad Love Stories

For a movie buff like me, to sit through a bad movie can be very very depressing....and after that I'm venting it out by writing. I thought the ideal fun on a lazy Saturday afternoon will be to watch a movie...and going by the recent mass adulation on 'I Hate Luv Storys', I decided to watch that. But what was this?? I can't believe this came out of Karan Johar's production house. Now, for the critics here of KJo, let me tell you, like it or not, I'm a huge fan of his cinema. The sincerity and love with which he makes not-so-real and not-so-possible things believable, touches my heart and gives me immense joy.


But I am disheartened with IHLS. The only consolation is that it is not exactly a KJo's film.....like, as in, he didn't direct it, and I'm sure it would have been far far better if he did. The film is childish to begin with,very immature in both conceiving and conveying, nobody cared about the story, acting was mediocre(the lead actors were not even half-used), the script totally lacked the conviction and focus...oh...!!!! I guess, the director hardly even knew what he's trying to portray...how can it ever come across as believable? The film gets awkwardly predictable with clichéd lines, clumsy sets and very commonplace costumes. It was not even a tenth of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Johar's most naive creation. This film awfully lacked the wit, passion and smartness his banner exudes. I wonder whether he ever was present when the film was shot....!!! 


I am disappointed will be an understatement. For one like me, who takes films personally, this was a terrible experience. But for the songs, nothing in the film stands out. Wake Up Sid, another recent film of the same production house was a way too good.


 I love love stories but this was a bad one..

It's Politics...

...And It is about politics in India.....which is passionate, and equally dirty. Director Prakash Jha, in his latest 'Raajneeti', has captured uncensored, the passion, die-hardness, strategic manipulations and smuttiness (sad, but true) of it.

The story of the film was never a problem....because the premise is based on the most dramatic political saga ever written in human history -- the epic, 'Mahabharata'. The rest of the film's integrity has been assured by the casting director, who brings in an ensemble cast of brilliant actors who gave, quite expectedly (and some, to our pleasant surprise), powerhouse performances. The director's genius lay in creating the sync between the prehistoric epic and contemporary politics.

The movie has never once, been shallowed by what would have been undesired interruptions in this context -- full-length songs or unnecessary sequences involving the female lead (often thought to be the glamour quotient in films which has nothing much to offer otherwise). The glamour of 'Raajneeti' lies in its raw depiction of a religion in our country, called Politics.

The beauty of the film lies in the revelation of the reality. As for the other expertise in the making of the movie, the costume designers need a very special mention. They really made the actors look according to the mood of the film. Actors Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, and Manoj Bajpai proves their mettle once again, and Arjun Rampal showed that he is just getting better and better with each new role. The treat was to watch Ranbir Kapoor as the main strategist, in a never-seen-yet act filled with class, finesse and restraint.

To sum up, 'Raajneeti' successfully manages to show what it intends to, and holds the excitement of the opening sequence till the end of the movie.

"Disgrace" - My Take..

One fine morning I was going through the list of books in -"1001 books you must read before you die" by Peter Boxall and Peter Ackroyd. The one author whose titles were frequent in the list is J.M.Coetzee ,the booker-prize winning author from South Africa. In the library later, I searched for his books and settled for the least voluminous of all his novels available....'Disgrace'.

'Disgrace' tells the story of a Professor of communications in a South-African university and his difficulties in conveying himself to the world around...the story in the later part smoothly transcends to another aspect of his relationship with his daughter and the limitations the relationship confronts due to difference of styles and choices of time and people..

The most interesting fact about the book is it's open-endedness....the main characters of the story are not obligated in a way or the other to justify their choices, actions, mistakes or their plans for the coming days. Hopes and doubts co-exist here like any normal life.....the book doesn't hold any sort of idealism which makes it more likely to relate to..the change of life, or life-style for that matter.. shows the adaptibility of men in contemporary world.....the novel also is written with a lyricism of its own. This narration is dark in some ways...strangely positive in others.

The novel has a short-story kind of ending,too.....

"The Great Perhaps" - My Take

Little things of life can make great stories....a world in its own. I was reading a new novel "The Great Perhaps" by Joe Meno and it showed that......The novel regarding a family of four in Chicago deals with very real and of-the-age issues, little daily incidents we can relate to. Each character has his/her own shares of dillemmas, qualms, and again peace and happiness.....The multiple protagonists of the novel, representing different age groups, have their own quotas of 'pseudo-lives' which they dream of, live and come back.
It appears to be more of a family diary sort of thing....in fiction -- chronicling events, major and minor alike, comforting readers with a generalization of the complicated emotions we feel as we live our day to day lives...