Fictions : Personal favourites!

Books that i have re-read, cherished and loved reading it all through these years, selected ones!

MARDAANI : Brave attempt!!

Underage girls from different parts of the country are being lifted,kidnapped, dozed off with drugs intermittently,stark naked, they are left for their 'buyers' to explore them quite mercilessly!

The atrocities of the malicious & cruel business of child trafficking is shown quite brutally, raw & gritty,yet it seems straight & very much realistic ,so much so that you can't stop thinking about the endless tv / newspaper headlines that pop up quite

often, feeling helpless for the poor, hapless victims! Hence, the best part about the film comes towards the finale when the cop leaves it upto

the victims, letting the pimp getting kicked in the nuts by a bunch of

girls he had sold into trafficking, that is when the film succeeds in

getting the applause, whistles and claps from the audience that it

truely deserves!

Pradeep Sarkar tackles the issue quite sensitively, keeping the track

focussed & with as much 'realistic' approach as possible (given the

banner!), without turning it preachy or too melodramatic. Rani Mukherji

after a long (really long!) time gets a role that did full justice to

her craft (special thanks to the writer & director for not turning

her into another 'Chulbul Pandey') & she plays it subtly without

being too loud (like Meera of 'No one killed Jessica)

Newcomer Priyanka Sharma is truely believable as the victim Pyaari while

with just two scenes Mona Ambegaonkar is brilliant in her menacing,

spine chilling act,specially when she turns from the hospitable host of

the house at first to the vengeful lady. But the film did make more of

an impact because of the perfect foil to Rani's cop act is the

antagonist Tahir Bhasin, playing the cold blooded, 20

something,suave,video game addicted criminal maintaining a cool demeanor

brilliantly! Same goes for the rest of the wonderful supporting cast.

Though the film slips in few occasions with some minor glitches here

& there, yet it turns out to be a thoroughly engaging, well made

fare for sure! Must watch!

BLUE JASMINE : ..much much more than just a cascade of tears & mascara !

What i liked most about Allen's remake of Tennessee Williams's classic play is that his Jasmine Frenchis is an epitome of inconsistency and whimsicality but at the same time, vulnerable! ( Let's not compare it with Vivien Leigh's act in 'A street car named desire'). Jasmine is selfish, neurotic, delusional, alcoholic, self destructive..yet classy, charming, scared, and feverish at the same time. She is ashamed of herself, of what she became, of how low she has fallen, while she believes that she is entitled to the classiest things in life. There is obvious pretention & guilt that she carries with her. She tries to adjust to her present surroundings  but she has no skills for survival in it on her own. With one gesture, one look, one change of facial expression, Cate Blanchet takes her character from high hopes to turmoil to despair & disaster, from glitz and glamour as a high profile socialite of the recent past to the uncertainty and fear of her shabby present, and watching her impetuous sudden transformations is heart wrenching, yet comic at the same time . She also mines the sharp, class- based humor in Jasmine's struggles with some notable highlights like:

i) the scene where she attends to the call from Dwight in between her spells of hysteria in a calm poised manner,sets up a date, asks him to pick up, ends the call & then breaks down uncontrollably for her pitiable situation.

ii) a hilariously executed scene in a pizza restaurant where she explains to her confused nephews to "Tip big, boys".

iii) the climax scene where she is talking to herself on a park bench.

iv) The neurotic spookiness on her face when she lies to Chili & Ginger about her plans of moving out of her sister's house & living in with her 'new found' rich boyfriend Dwight.