The month of May was a big one for me. My book, The Curse of Anuganga, a historical detective mystery, published by TreeShade Books was released then. I suppose I can call myself a writer now. Though technically The Curse of Anuganga is my second book – the first being a small children’s story (The … More The Curse of Anuganga is out …
I devour anything that I can lay my hands on, especially if it is about Hindi cinema covering the 50s or the 60s. When I came across a mention of this book in an article two years back, I was intrigued. A fictionalised retelling about Guru Dutt, Geeta Dutt and his rumoured relationship with Waheeda … More A Very Strange Man | Ajeeb Aadmi by Ismat Chughtai translated by Tahira Naqvi (Book Review)
“The Land of Dreams”; “The Land of the Brave and Free” – is that not how most Indians view the United States of America? Added to that is the American way of life that most Indians know about only via TV shows and movies. To most Indians, irrespective of strata, therefore, America has been that … More From An-Other Land: Making Home in the Land of Dreams – Tanushree Ghosh (Review)
A few months ago, a friend told me about an extremely entertaining Bengali movie she had watched – Goynar Baksho and urged me to watch, whenever it became available on Netflix/ Amazon. For whatever reason, the name stuck – mainly because it stars Moushumi Chatterjee and I did keep an eye for it in the … More The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die | Goynar Baksho – Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, translated by Arunava Sinha (Book Review)
This is a book review that has been long overdue. Jaishree Misra has been one author whose books I have read and enjoyed over the years. I was introduced to her writing when I read her debut novel, the bestseller Ancient Promises, way back in 2000 shortly after it was published. Since then I have kept … More Book Review: A House for Mr. Misra – Jaishree Misra
I came across this book sometime last year when I was trying to educate myself on the early days of Indian cinema. Since my interest in Indian cinema is in movies from 1950s and onwards, when it comes to the two preceding decades, barring certain iconic names such as K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Devika Rani, … More Book Review – Kanan Devi – The First Superstar of Indian Cinema by Mekhala Sengupta
The one and lonely Kidar Sharma: an anecdotal autobiography resurfaced among a pile of read, unread books in one of my bookshelves during a massive book-sorting exercise recently. As I saw the title, it struck me that despite having picked it up ages back, it had not been read. Worse, still, it had been completely … More Book Review: The one and lonely Kidar Sharma – An anecdotal autobiography
Historical fiction is a difficult genre for an author to attempt; after all it is an imaginary narrative that has to be set in the remote past, while depicting the chosen time period and its cultures with accuracy, believability and depth. It requires extensive research and intensive, imaginative reconstruction. The author has to know the period, and … More Crimson City by Madhulika Liddle
In the late 80’s or early 90’s, Doordarshan telecast a fantastic series titled ‘Portrait of the Director‘. It featured six documentaries on six acclaimed directors of Hindi Cinema. It was in the episode on Shyam Benegal, that I first heard about this book. His acclaimed 1977 film, Bhumika, starring Smita Patil in the award winning title role, … More Sangtye Aika (You ask, I tell: An autobiography) by Hansa Wadkar transl. by Jasbir Jain and Shobha Shinde
Shankar Mokashi Punekar (1928-2004) was a well-known Kannada novelist, poet, literary critic and translator. Known to be radical and non-conformist in his views, Punekar’s output was prolific. He wrote extensively in Kannada and English – in varied genres – novels, short stories, poetry, and literary criticism. Deeply critical of the modernist movement in Kannada literature, his own … More Awadheshwari by Shankar Mokashi Punekar translated by P.P. Giridhar
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