Minia's Mundane Musings

    I love autobiographical accounts. The best ones for me, are the ones that are unbiased and make me empathise with the narrator (writer) This one was rather simple and straightforward. The author lays bare the facts and allows you to make your own impressions about the events that unfolded, rather than thrusting upon you a pre-formed opinion. We get a front seat view of major events in history from the first world War onwards, up to the Nixon scandal and a further few years beyond that. Katharine Graham was born at the fag end of the first world War and that is where her narrative begins. There is a little segue into previous years, to explain her ancestry. She describes a difficult relationship with her mother, without looking for sympathy and a beautiful one with her father, with love and pride. She grew up in a world which had just weathered major strife and was in her early twenties when the second world War rolled around. In the intervening years, she sha...

    This book belongs to the revenge trope and I enjoyed reading it for a reason, other than just the story or the thrills, it was for the delicious turn of phrase, that the author employed. Here are some examples: “It didn’t seem fair for a man to mourn someone so deeply, whom he had loved so miserly!” “Wound on his cheek was weeping like a broken-hearted bride.” “As careful as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” “Give a man a clipboard and watch his true nature come out.” “He smiled; it was like watching an icicle form.” The story is about two men who are bound by destiny, when their sons who were married, are murdered. The tapestry is enriched by the fact that one family is black and the other is white. Throw in the fact that both the fathers are ex-cons and you have an intrigue on hand. Other than the language I liked the way the conversations were handled and how the characters were revealed by thought, word and deed, rather than extrapo...

Thank God for Indian Cinema! I was extremely disappointed with the 2 movies I had been eagerly awaiting, Toofan and Malik.  But having watched Sarpatta Parambarai, I am so happy. It was a wonderful experience and one I wished I could have enjoyed in a movie theater with the beats of the action and the excellent movie score reverberating through my veins. It was the kind of movie that made me cheer aloud and pump a fist in the air.  In my opinion whosoever came up with the idea of subtitles, surely deserves a Nobel Prize. It is only due to the efforts of these great people that we get to enjoy cine-magic in languages we don't know. 😂😂😂😂😂 I know diddly-squat about boxing as a sport and even less about the protagonist in this film, Arya, but that didn't prevent me from having a rollicking time watching this. It was an immersive experience and I know I will go back for another helping. The story is of a person whose antecedents are from a boxing family and yet he has been kep...

I had such a good time watching this one. The negative reviews be damned, this was a total fun ride. I came for Tapsee and stayed for Vikrant Massey. He is smashing. I loved him in this one, and I am sure you will too. Tapsee and Harshvardhan Rane and the others are good too, but Vikrant take a bow! The script is a bit hazy and the background score could have been toned down a bit, but it is a masala movie which I am sure would have had a good run at the matinee. The writing is very tight at times and then at other times, seems to be that Kanika Dhillon has no idea what she wants should happen. The non -linear mode has been employed to catalogue the events that transpire in a young married couple’s life. These are not merely teething troubles, but a genuine existentialist crisis. The husband and wife have very rigid, yet very naive views about a married relationship and struggle through it, thereby setting up an opening for the rascal cousin (twice removed) to muddy the already turbule...

  I must confess at the outset that I have a partiality towards anthologies and when I knew that this anthology is based upon Satyajit Ray’s work, it pumped me all the more. I was really excited to see this one, though I must confess to never having seen or read any of the featured stories in this anthology. In an ascending order my recommendation is for you to watch as follows: 1-Forget me Not- A crisp telling of man who gets his comeuppance by some serious psychological manoeuvring. It calls to mind the stories of Alfred Hitchcock and the twists in the tale that Agatha Christie used to deliver. This story also very smartly references Drishyam and its shrewd protagonist. Ali Fazal as always, hits it above his pay grade and I so glad to see that via the OTT, talent like his gets a space. Shweta Basu is ok and she hasn’t much space to perform. Watch this one for the sheer force of Ali Fazal, who gets the Bangalore accent bang-on. 2-Bahurupi – This one is a serious mindf...

  The White Tiger I never did enjoy the book that this movie is based upon. Whilst my reading of the book itself, I had felt a sense of disconnect from it, and this chiefly arose from the fact that the author appeared to have used elements from the Indian society to tick boxes. Caste divides – check! Economic divides – check! Political divides – check! Gender divides – check! And then market the hell out of the book to garner support for an elevated prize. This post is sure to ruffle a few feathers, but I am sticking to my guns! The movie is a true adaptation and I quite liked the performance by it’s lead – the raw Gaurav Adarsh. He was good but has a long way to go as yet. He did not show any depth and that was unfortunate as the one thing that was good in the book were the many layers that Balram Halwai was endowed with. He does have a good narrative voice though. And what a strange choice of movie for Rajkummar Rao to say yes to! He is never in the thick of thing...

When one has lost complete faith in the creativity of mainline bollywood cinema, along comes a movie such as this, which delights and gladdens the heart. Very few movies combine the genres of slice of life and comedy, so skillfully. Think Piku and Vicky Donor, and I would slot this one right there. The comedy is a gentle one with subtle writing and the veterans cast in it, give it the perfect edge. Let's start with the supporting cast of Manoj Pahwa, Seema Pahwa, Supriya Pilgaonkar and Annu Kapoor, this is just the kind of writing that they thrive on. Consider the performance of Annu Kapoor, he acts not just with his face, which in this one, is obliterated with hair, his entire body acts. He was rarely in the mainframe but his gestures conveyed so much with few dialogues. The Pahwas play off of, each other and Supriya is a master, bringing just the right touch of overt humor. She plays mother to an actor her own age and never do you feel it. Fatima Sana Shaikh is competent. S...