Alex - Pierre Lemaitre (Book)

Alex - Pierre Lemaitre.
Translation by: Frank Wynne.

Another day, another book and another dear friend who indeed put a gun of sorts on my head and swore to never to speak to if I didn't read this book :). And I must say, what a fool I was to miss the terrific Pierre Lemaitre so far and this co-incidentally became the second book that I read from the land of French after recently finishing and loving "The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth" which was a conspiracy to kill the French President. This was although a totally different ball game as far as killings are concerned and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, another page turner from France. I love detective stories and this was an exceptional one of an agent that I so much reminded me of my recent other read from Robert Galbraith and his awesome detective Cormoran Strike with his partner Robin always in toes with him solving the cases. Here we have terrific Camille Verhoeven with his team of team of agents solving the mysterious case of "Alex's" kidnapping and subsequent murder trails. What I loved about Pierre's style is the background story that each character has and the way he keeps opening them as the story progresses forward and doesn't give out anything in the very start as an introduction. The ease with which the reader in me actually fell in love with the Agent first, followed by falling in love with the victim and to my own shock I found myself actually rooting and cheering (by the time it ends) for the killer too. Now he Pierre did that, you've got to read the book to know. Also, before I forget, let me mention this too that the book isn't for the faint hearted, the gruesome killing and torture may be a little too much for some, I although enjoyed it thoroughly. If you plan to read this, the racy fast paced book that it is, do have your breakfast, lunch or dinner before you pick up the awesome book.

Alex is a beautiful girl who gets kidnapped at the very start of the story, with barely one vague witness and nothing much of a background as where she works, stays or for that matter who she is, the cat and mouse chase game starts. Camille Verhoeven is the agent on whose table the case lands, he himself is recovering from his pregnant wife's murder who was kidnapped and killed some 4 odd year ago. Now, Author has smartly disclosed almost no details about his wife's case on this one as the prequel to this book is actually a book called "Irene" and that's what Camille's wife's name was. So, we better get that too now to get to know Camille a little bit better (I am going to do that very soon, can't keep myself hanging in suspense for too long you see). Camille himself is one heck of a character, with hardly 5 feet in height, bald, over weight, almost hitting an age of 50 with no life to look forward to but just a bunch of professional friends and irritatingly for his superiors, brilliant. A very helpful boss who always comes to his rescue and with a judge who is hell bent in proving him wrong plus on top of that a superb support agent who is the mi-serest best I have ever read a character in any-book and who is always hungry. The story is poised right from the very start to a terrific finale as Camille has to not only find the kidnapped girl, save her from being killed, find the reason and the person who is doing it, why he is doing it, find her background, family, friends and what not whereas no one has any clue as who she is. On top of that even after being kidnapped for a few days, there is no missing person report anywhere. Imagine, all that happening in the first 50 odd pages of the book and I had no idea what to expect from it. And I must say the way it blew my mind off, I regretted not knowing French big time. If Frank Wynne's translation is so good, imagine how terrific it will be in Original.

Although judging a writer by just one book is way too early but I must say Pierre Lemaitre came too close to one of my all time favorite writer Stieg Larsson as far as the suspense, thrill and characterization is concerned. He actually made me fall in love so much with the characters that I had no choice but to compare them with Larsson's amazing characters. Gotta read more of him now and see how fantastic his other works are. Another thing that I loved about Pierre's book is the way so subtly he shows the filth and ugly side of Paris / France to us who know nothing about the city / country in general which surprised and shocked me big time.

Have you read Alex or Irene? or any of Pierre Lemaitre's books. Do let me know which is your favorite, if you have read any of his works. I am big time looking forward to Irene now at the earliest before my dear friend puts a gun on my head, I will get it and read it now on my own.

Game of Thrones - Season 2 (TV Series)

Game of Thrones - Season 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_(season_2)

Another week gone and I am done with another season of Game of Thrones :). As slow I may take it, I still know that the last season is still a good six months away.

Season 2 immediately picks up the story from where Season 1 had left it on a very high, dramatic and yet so much emotional note. In comparison, definitely Season 2 is not a patch on the first one but yes it does takes the story forward a couple of notches. Surprisingly Jon Snow still maintains the same one (smug) expressions throughout the year with almost nothing much to do or achieve in this season too. Of-course he does gets to go beyond the great wall yet the "King Beyond The Wall" doesn't make an entry yet :D. I was so eagerly waiting to see the face of the King but they left me again in tenterhooks :) (Read rushing to start the Season 3 now).

Try as much as I could, I am still in a huge Awe of bloody Lannisters, totally smitten in love with the Half Man, the Imp - Tyrion. Wow, every time he gets slapped, kicked or shot down by his own immediate family, I feel like there should be a way I could enter the Television and kick their asses. Jamie is now my all time favorite although with hardly any presence in this one but the things are going to turn up nicely in upcoming episodes I could make out. As he joins Brienne the wench on the journey back to the Kings-Landing. Things are poised and I can already smell so much action ahead.

Stark family is still in ruins. Again my first love in the Stark household is no surprise - Arya Stark :), what an amazing character and so beautifully done by the little girl. Sansa should be killed ASAP, makes no difference to me. Rob on the roll with his army, love life, revenge and what not is getting the best footage ever. Bran and Rickon with Asha and Hodor are on a journey which turns mysterious with every new twist, wonder how it will end for them.

The only weak link as of now as per me which totally disappointed me so far is "Stannis", what happened to his character? someone please tell me that it is going to get better from here and how about the "Onion Knight" Davos that was such a heartbreak. I hope they do not disappoint me in the coming episodes. The guy who plays Stannis is a total miscast, a total turn off for me (at this stage at least). Also I am heart-broken by so less attention given to the Mountain, Mormonts, Clegane brothers etc.

Totally incredible is the way they do so much in mere 10 hours each season and I believe I am not the only who feels like their episodes are too short, I bloody blink and its over, before even I could develop a repo with the character and his / her histrionics, Bang! Its over. Totally in love with the amazing background score, especially the one at the start which lasts about close to 2 minutes and the songs as the end credits roll, simply brilliant. Visuals are totally epic, I really wonder where they must have gone to shoot the series and what kind of effort it must take to make an Epic like this. Brilliant. Although the War scenes so far, look a little hurried up and nothing impressive about them but I give them a benefit of doubt.

I don't want to talk about the diversion from the books as this is something supremely amazing to be shoot down just because it diverts or adds up so much more in terms of entertainment value by adding up new things. I am delighted to see the "Others" twice in a row which almost gets no mention in the first five books by GRRM :).

What keeps me on toes and at the edge of my seat with every episode is the punch lines they keep throwing to no end. Which again keeps putting a wide smile on my face.

Winter is coming (Definitely the longest they ever had earlier).
Lannisters are definitely going to pay their debts as thats what they are famous for.
Dragons are coming too (very shortly, growing very fast).
Daenerys is going to cross the narrow sea and claim the Iron throne (I am eagerly waiting for it).
Jon Snow still knows nothing :).
And my favorite is definitely the "King in the north" that gives me goosebumps every-time he is mentioned.

Another point that impresses and surprises me big time is that each season they have 10 episodes directed by at least five different Directors yet it is so consistently fantastic that it is hard to tell who among them is the best.

PS: I have downloaded all the seasons from Torrents, please tell me especially those who have watched it through other sources if there are subtitles when they speak in Dothraki? Because the version that I am watching, doesn't have any, am I missing something or much?

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (Book)

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth.

I was thinking of reading this book for quite a while, especially after watching the movie "The Jackal" which was loosely made on the original movie made on the book "The Day of the Jackal". I totally loved the movie Jackal for so many reasons, my favorite Bruce Willis for being the ultimate Jackal, my wife's favorite Richard Gere as the detective trying to catch the bad man and our neutral favorite Sidney Poitier as the man in support trying to save the First Lady from the clutches of the Jackal. I have lost count how many times we must have seen the movie yet totally loving it every-time. But as it happens so many times when I pick up a supremely acclaimed classic I always dread what if it doesn't work for me? Exactly same happened with me while I read this book, here are my reactions as I kept reading it to the very end:

25% into the book: The political commentary just doesn't comes to an end and makes it a very challenging read. (I guess the movie was way better).
30% into the book: Finally the Jackal makes an entry and the things start to get interesting.
50% into the book: Alright, we know he is set and his target is set, but where is the good cop who is going to stop him?
60% into the book: Finally the good cop starts making his move and things start getting thrilling.
70% into the book: Should I call in sick?
80% into the book: Hope people don't call me today.
90% into the book: Dinner is ready, colleagues calling, I am ducking inside my cubicle.
100% into the book: Bravo, this is the best thriller ever, Hats off Mr. Forsyth, please tell me that you wrote a sequel.
My opinion on Movie (1997 Richard Gere and Bruce Willis's one): Strictly average, the book is way way better.

Ironically the book is based on one of the attacks on French President Charles De Gaulle's life out of half a dozen attempts various people made on the man but he still survived all of them :). On top of that what shocked me to no end was the spoiler that Frederick Forsyth himself gives precisely at the point I had read 30% of the book, giving away the ending himself. Fortunately even that takes nothing away from the book and story as it isn't about what is done but it is more about How it is done which keeps the reader on the tenterhooks. How kool is that. But one thing is there that during the entire course of reading (3 days I guess), all I could visualize was Bruce Willis as the Jackal, Richard Gere as Lebel the Commissioner on a cat and mouse chase game, one hell bent on killing the head of the state (France) and other will leave no stone untruned in saving the same man. On top of that my mind kept playing the superb outstanding background score of the movie throughout the book. Unbelievable experience it was. And now I know why this book keeps coming up almost always when we talk about the top ten thrillers of all time. No wonder, it will show up in my list too now onward.

Imagine a book written almost 50 years back, still holds up the thrill so well. The ease with which the Jackal keeps changing the identities with a set target in mind and lets nothing come in between him and the man he was slated (paid) to kill. The way Commissioner Lebel leaves nothing for Jackal's benefit but is always almost a few steps behind him, the thrilling way he and the secret service of a dozen nations come together with the help of Interpol to find a needle in a haystack was seriously outstanding writing. Mind-blowing is the way how convincingly Author opens up all the cards for the reader, totally keeping me grinning from ear to ear. I can vouch now that I haven't read a better thriller, although it is quite challenging as I said in the starting but I had full faith on my friends who are always praise for this book and Mr. Forsyth. And the story pays the ultimate dividend as it progresses to the chilling and edge of the seat thrilling ending.

Now I am totally eager to watch the original movie made in 1973 to see how close it comes to the book. Have you read the book or seen the two movies based on it? Which one as per you is the better version? And if you haven't read the book, I guess you already know what I want you to do. Would it show up on your top ten favorite thrillers?

Tamas (Hindi) – Bhisham Sahni (Book)

Tamas (Hindi) – Bhisham Sahni.

This was one of those few books that I pick up every year to impress my mother 🙂 and then I gradually pick them up to read myself. I started reading this last weekend as we had to travel back to our home town for a family function, I actually picked it to check the public’s reaction on a very old, acclaimed and that too a Hindi book. And I must say not only the book blew my mind off but the way I got superb response from people upwards of 45 years + age, it was simply amazing. A South Indian uncle sitting right opposite our berth going from Pune to Ujjain on a pilgrimage trip spoke so much about the story with such passion (without giving out any spoilers as he realized I was midways into the book). He was delighted to say that I have an amazing taste in literature :), of-course I didn’t confess to him that I was doing it for my mother. Now after reading the book while travelling back to back for three days and wrapping the last 20 pages this morning after reaching home, I am totally speechless. As the period and the drama that this book covers is totally unbelievable. Written in the mid 70’s, based on a time period which is like a few months before of India’s independence and subsequent partition, the way story progresses for a poignantly open ending, it just felt like someone removed the rug below my feet.

My last read was “A Tale of Two Nights” based on Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) and Babri Masjid demolition of early 90’s which again spoke about Hindu Muslim relations and differences in great detail again in a heart touching story. But as if I didn’t have enough of it already, I got this one which tells exactly the same story which was happening 50 years prior to Babri Masjid episode. The religious divide which comes in picture at the drop of a hat between the three sects (Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs) time and again, earlier at one point of time they lived like brothers otherwise. And on top of that we have Britisher’s who were ruling us at that point of time, the dilemma that the Deputy Commissioner of the town faces with these three groups raring to kill each other in the name of religion and what not, was totally mind-blowing. The entire story is so smartly written, which almost never gives out the name of the place it all is happening as well as the time it is actually taking place. But the way things are going, I could do the math to timeline it and by almost the ending the Author decides to give out the names of the places 🙂 which again is something you need to read the book to experience it. Totally unpredictable I will say.

I just couldn’t believe how easily a Hindu will kill a Muslim just because a little political move by the top shots changes the equation. Even when they have lived in the same area for generations and pretty well know that they can never be enemies of each other neither will/should harm each in any circumstance. The way a human turns into an animal or for that matter even worse than an animal was simply shocking. Especially the way quite a few settle their own scores like killing the weaker ones as they couldn’t kill the stronger ones or raping the females they couldn’t lay their hands on otherwise, unbelievably inhuman and what toll it takes on the readers in-expectant mind. Again as I am never too ashamed to confess as it happens quite a few times with me, here too I had no idea what actually “Tamas” meant, till I finished the book this morning and called my mother to ask what it meant in the context of the book? she said only one word “Darkness”, Wow, Hats off to you Mr. Sahni, you just got a fan for life. How apt.

Unfortunately these days I do not read much of Hindi literature, all thanks to the availability in the stores I go book shopping and a little to blame myself that I always rate foreign writers higher than our own. Plus I believe no contemporary writer is writing in Hindi anymore they all are writing in English, further killing Hindi literature.

I know that my blabber makes no sense and does no justice to the terrific writing of Mr. Bhisham Sahni, having said that I will say that each one of us has to read this book and that too in Hindi, its original language (if you can) to get its gravity. Have you read Tamas or seen its TV adaptation or the critically acclaimed movie made by Govind Nihalani on it? Do let me know how you liked it and if you haven’t watched or read, I will say read you must first. You are totally going to love it.

Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian - EL James (Book)

Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian - EL James.

How I got into Fifty Shades? I ask myself and get an instant answer that one fine day a few years ago my nephew came to me with the first movie on his pen drive. Neither he nor we had any idea what we were about to watch. Guess the song "Love me like you do" was the trick how we got into the movie. It was such an embarrassing experience (read cringe-worthy) to watch it with my some 19 odd year old nephew with wifey around :). The movie was a fantastic lesson on "Sex and BDSM" if you ask me, unfortunately it was too gross to my sensual taste and the story almost went nowhere. The only good thing(s) in the first movie Fifty Shades of Grey was the girl, I totally loved the one who played Anastasia Steele, ravishing and gorgeous she is and the toys that Mr. Grey has (no pun intended), I am talking about the big boys toys. The fleet of Audi Q7's, an Amazing Audi R8 (one of the fastest and most expensive cars) and a state of the art Helicopter. And before I forget to mention, his personal library, which has a huge collection of some rare books, first editions leather bound (Thomas Hardy's) Wow. The apartment he owned, the kind of money he made and the big philanthropist as he was projected. Developing state of the art technology, selling it to developed nations on a premium and free to the underdeveloped nations like Africa and India (how Nobel). Plus the guy was straight, handsome, clean, almost a professional kick-boxer with loads of money supply to last a few life times. I really wondered what could go wrong with a guy like that to do what he was doing on screen and on top of that the question that was killing me was why the Girl was taking it on her the way she was doing. Hence the book had to be read. After reading the book I indeed get all the answers and am totally convinced as why a guy like Grey should not be loved the way Ana loves him.

Now, Ms James is a little too smart so she wrapped up Christian Grey's illustrious life (read Sex life) in three books, Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed from the point of view of Anastasia Steele. On top of that as if it wasn't enough for her readers, she wrote two more "Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian" and the one that I just finished "Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian". These unfortunately were the same books as its counterparts from the previous years but were Christian Grey's version of the same story :). How beautiful and on top of that she ends up selling some 150 million copies worldwide in multiple languages, produces the Movies too and even they too made a lot of money if Wiki is to be believed. Bravo.

Five books later, the plot can still be wrapped up in one line that Mr. Grey is a man who was abused in his childhood by his Crack Whore Mother's Pimp, later adopted by Mr and Mrs Grey whose family friend (again a lady) abuses him further till he falls in love with Ana Steele and his life changes overnight for good. Call it fortunately or unfortunately whatever you may, I end up reading all five books ;) as fillers between my tough reads (as I like to call it) and found them to be pretty interestingly written. A little too much of Sex of-course which at times gets cringe-worthy but as Mr. Grey claims "No one dies of excess Sex" and his girl friend confesses to him that she would love to die making love to him. How beautiful. Of all the five books that I have read so far, this one was the most challenging one to read but still I finished it somehow and I will be waiting for the next one to come along soon so I can put Mr. Grey's story to rest once he is "Freed" as the next I expect will do it.

Have you read Fifty Shades? or Have you seen the movies?
Who is your favorite Character from the series. Mine are definitely Grey's driver Taylor and his housekeeper Mrs. Jones. And the character of Mrs. Robinson.

PS: I guess after EL James is done with the sixth book of the series ;) (Christian's version of his freedom) she should write the entire series again from his driver "Taylor's" point of view. That would be an interesting read.

Doctor Sleep - Stephen King (Book)

Doctor Sleep - Stephen King. Disclaimer: Stephen King is one of my all time favorite Author and whatever I may blabber here, it makes no difference as I will go ahead and read all his books in the time to come. Has that ever happened with you that one of your favorite writer has actually blundered big time and that too so big time that it becomes a total heart-break in the end? Doctor Sleep was one of those I guess rare occasion for me (I hope so). Again its all my fault that I somehow has to digest that sequels are usually never as good as the original first part. Same was the case here, I totally loved "The Shining" a few years ago. The book was a scare-fest, thrilling and horrifying too. A lot of things happened with me in the same week that I read the book and watched the movie back to back, like I actually saw a river of blood coming towards me in my office corridor which actually looked like King's corridor from Hotel Overlook. My speaker phone will automatically turn on and scare me big time with that deadly sounding US dial-tone. Elevators started making weird noises with taking some seconds break in between going to the floors I wanted to go and I refused to park my car in my office basement parking as it was too scary to take the vehicle out after my graveyard shift finished, I slept with entire house's lights on and so much more. On top of that when we were on the lookout for my company's new office I actually threw tantrums to my CEO for one particular office which he finally caved-in in the end as that office was numbered 217 :) and I gladly signed a 5 years lease for the same. I work in the same office now. After all that with "The Shining" you can imagine how excited I must be to pick up "Doctor Sleep" which was its sequel and the movie was right round the corner to get released. Oh! And before I forget to mention, let me tell you that Mr. King may not have liked or endorsed the movie made by legendary Stanley Kubrick (The Shining 1980) because he changed a lot of it and even in the ending too. But I loved the movie big time as it works super awesomely as a stand alone product. Although it still takes me a few days to fully recover from it, but I am working on it. So, lets come back to Doctor Sleep, which in the first place I wont recommend that you read in the first place. Its a thick book as it is the case with all King books but a totally no go. I just can't believe that he actually wrote it, neither the language, nor the story feels like a King story. I can bet my life that he got it ghost written by someone else for the heck of it and sold the movie rights for a few million dollars. Now the kid from The Shining has grown and so has his powers. Its three decades or more since the Overlook Hotel was burned to ground, all thanks to his Dad who finds himself surrounded by the ghosts from Overlooks past and we all know how it ends. Now that the kid has grown, he realizes he isn't the only one with the powers, there are more people like him. One such kid finds him and seeks his help, now there are bad people too with the similar or little more powers who have an agenda with these guys, like killing them to become more powerful in the most gut wrenching way (that was the only exciting thing in the whole novel of about 1000 pages). The way these two connect and why Danny is called Doctor Sleep, I suggest you Google it if not read the book as that will be spoiler to put here. Danny's reckless nomadic life, his past connections and characters all come haunting him but not the reader I would say. Too much Mr. King has taken from Shining still it doesn't work at all. After half the way into the book I realized that he was using too much from Shining itself to make Doctor Sleep shine but it all falls flat and only works towards the climax which itself is a let down of sorts. A lot of sidey events at times made me feel good and that I guess made me keep going in the hope of things getting any better. Have you read Shining and Doctor Sleep? If not, I highly recommend you read The Shining and not read Doctor Sleep but have if you have read Doctor Sleep, do let me know if that worked for you. Somehow I missed the movie in theater as the book stretched too long and in the meantime movie was out of theaters. A few of my close friends saw it and didn't like it that much anyways. I will be watching in next few weeks for sure as the curious soul that I am, I won't be easily able to give up.

A Tale of Two Nights - Pradeep Kapoor (Book)

A Tale of Two Nights - Pradeep Kapoor.

I read books for the sheer fun of it and at times they do teach me so many life lessons by the stories that I develop a solid connect with. And then there comes along a book totally unknowingly as a surprise and refreshes the memory of a haunting dream I used to get long back. The book in question came as a surprise gift from a very dear friend and it covers the two deadly nights from our part of the world. First was the night of Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) whereas the second night covers the Babri Masjid Demolition (1992). Fortunately my dad had a tiff with his dad and he walked out of the ancestral home in Bhopal (Bairagarh precisely) in the summer of 1984 and as the tragedy stuck on the fateful night of Dec 2nd 1984, everyone in the family was relieved as he was posted with State Bank of India Chola Rd branch in Bhopal before moving out. Although we were not there or anywhere close during the fateful night and didn't lose any family members or friends due to distance but the real time horror stories were so haunting that I always dreamed myself standing on a railway over bridge (Chetak in MP Nagar) over looking a railway track with a huge ditch dug out on the left side open ground and dozens of dead people are being burnt in it. Even in the official records of Bhopal City administration it is mentioned that they did burnt 100s of bodies with no records and 100s were buried in common graves without any knowledge who they were. How and why they decided to burn the few and bury others is beyond anyone's imagination. As I grew up the frequency of haunting dream subsided but I guess the next few nights will be tough on me as the book and the story is going to take a toll on me for sure.

The book not only made me speechless but touched my heart big time deep down somewhere I find it very hard to explain. Story of a Hindu Doctor and a Muslim man who face the two fateful nights in the City of lakes. How their paths cross not once but twice as they come so close to death, how they dodge or face or embrace it is the story all about, which choked me big time, tears rolled down my cheeks with a huge lump in my throat which refused to subside hours after I finished the book. As far as I know of anyone with any connection with the city of Bhopal, the Gas tragedy is engraved in our hearts for life. Imagine the situation of a Doctor who is about to perform an Autopsy on a patient who suddenly moves shocking him by being alive on the operation table. Or the situation of a blind man (due to tragedy) who has no idea where his loving wife is, or his twin daughters when they don't even find their bodies, never sure if they are dead or alive. Or a kid who loses his entire family in the course of one night due to no fault of their own. Unbelievable. And this is just one story that the Author talks about here, there were thousands who faced the same dilemma. Or the second fateful night wherein one political party created a huge rift between two sects of the society which will never get filled in any near future. Unfortunately I witnessed that night as well as the following month stuck in Bhopal with my Dad while the entire town was curfew-ed for quite a few days. The story refreshed all those memories of us eating Potatoes with whatever else we could gather from our neighbors during those days of struggle but how the old town suffered due to the divide was sheer heart break and unbelievably sad as covered by the Author in this fictional (I hope) story.

Unfortunately I had to travel out of town while I was reading this book and the four hour train journey I took both ways, it was quit a challenge to read it in the moving train sitting in a chair-car. Every page will choke me up and I will put down the book to control my emotions and stay normal being in full public view and again I will grab it as the story is so engrossing as my mind will keep asking me "What happened next?". The book is simply unputdownable with so much hope and inspiration it gives that all is not yet lost after-all. The way it ends, Kudos to Dr. Pradeep Kapoor for the same. I totally loved it, it went beyond my expectations, you have to read to know how and what he does with the story.

Since I was born and brought up in Bhopal it was such a delightful experience to read it. What amazed me and made me super happy was that he didn't use any fictional names of the places, restaurants, theaters, roads, hospitals and all that. As the characters moved from one place to another, I could actually visualize it all in my brain and it was a terrific experience. My family is living in Bhopal since 1940's and we still have our ancestral home back in the town, which we keep visiting a few times a year without fail. As I will be going back to the home town come November, the whole thing will come gushing back this time in my memory I believe. Also, I am planning to gift and share the book with my other Bhopali friends who are unaware still as what this book is based on.

Have you read "A Tale of Two Nights"? if not, you have to read this without fail. Although it may be a fictional account but I believe no story can come any closer to what happens in those two nights in the city. It is a must read for all even if you have no connection with the happenings. A beautiful story of hope and survival, friendship and relations, it will now be etched in my memory for life.

Sacred Games S1 - Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane (TV Series).

Sacred Games - Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane (TV Series).

Last week I had an official travel :) that means more free time and almost nothing to do as I hit back the hotel room for the evening. With no disturbance, calls, mails or TV in my room :) I was looking forward to niptao some much awaited movies and catch up on a few long awaited TV series's too. I am super glad that the pen drive I picked up from home had first season of Game of Thrones (10 hours of sheer fun) and Sacred Games (8 hours amazingly spent in front of my laptop).

Incredible!! is the world which kept coming to my mind and hats off to the makers especially my favorite Director from our part of the world, a man which comes only second to Quentin Tarantino, my other favorite from the other side of the world. And if you haven't seen this one yet, Boss, you have no idea what you are missing, leave everything on side, call in sick today and get on with it already.

Thanks to the platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and likes, our Television have come of age now. They are no more trying to show us something and making us interpret on our own rather now they are on our face and as it is or should be. The very first dialogue of Nawazuddin in the background sets the ball rolling which never stops, even at the end of the series too when I punched the pillow lying on my lap and banged the laptop shut as the wait is going to be excruciating to know where it all leads and on top that - how it ends :)

Of-course this time it is Anurag Kashyap in company with another terrific maker from our side Vikramaditya Motwane who have some great movies to their credit already. The duo has made 400 minutes of sheer fun. Cat and Mouse game between the underworld and cops that too starting way back in the 80's to the current times I believe. With so many episodes from our own History making an entry here, there and everywhere plus the way they are not at all afraid of taking any names in open, of some powerful names from our part of the world, was totally mind-blowing. Blood, Gore and Abuses galore so much so that it actually was hurting to have a grin like that on my face and I craved to have a friend around with whom I could share the fun verbally as much as I was having them speak it :) if you know what I mean. Nothing can beat the feeling of hearing our own chaste abusive words that too being mouthed by some of our own favorite actors and characters.

Saif Ali Khan and Namazuddin Siddiqui are simply mind-blowing and totally believable in their avatars. I had no expectations from Saif especially but the man has impressed me big time. No ways any of his movies comes any closer to this one, this is the best thing that has happened to him in last two decades I will say and I hope, wish and pray that they keep the momentum going with the Season 2, dunno whens it coming.

Plot is simple that Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is a troubled police officer in Mumbai who receives a phone call from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who tells him to save the city within 25 days. And how Sartaj Singh who has his own past haunting him saves the city is what the series is all about. With ever page we have new characters coming to light who at times help him or make his life more tougher. Casting is super good and so is the background score. I haven't seen a better TV series ever in the past which comes any closer to this one at least from our part of the world for sure. And eagerly looking forward to the season 2 which I believe will put an end to it all.

Since I am not one of those guys who can live with suspense for a longer duration, I have got a friend send me a copy of Sacred Games the book by Vikram Chandra on which this series is made and I will be reading it very shortly. :) Have you seen the series or read the book yet? Do let me know how you like it? I am looking forward to watch the 8 episodes again with my wife this weekend as its going to be a long weekend and we are travelling again out of town together.

Red Sparrow (And/Or/VS) Raazi (Movies)

Red Sparrow (And/Or/VS) Raazi.

What a co-incidence that I saw these two movies back to back as was travelling and had nothing better to do. I am not comparing them as they both stand out on their own and are pretty well made individually. But it was a superb co-incidence for me to watch them back to back without knowing what they were based on. I am glad that I do not watch trailers as my wife was already not happy while watching Raazi that she knew about the ending before hand and I had no clue where it will go. As I said, no point comparing as they are just two movies with only similar subjects, thrillers which were poles apart in handling from two different parts of the world. Indian movie is more subtle as our makers and censor board decides their audience's sensibilities but the American movie is totally on audience face to shock them and show them something they haven't seen or expect in their wildest fantasies that too with Jennifer Lawrence in lead.

Raazi is simply the best thriller of this year, which not only put a broad smile on my face, with so much respect to the original girl who did in real life that too in the 70's. And the way her deeds connect with such an important episode from India's history was the cherry on top. Wow!! They need to make more movies like that on similar stories from the unsung heroes and heroines from our past. Meghna Gulzar and Alia Bhatt with the support of superb writing and amazing support cast just nailed it big time. Not for one moment I could sit easy and relax with so much going on. Imagine a girl hardly out of college is being sent to the bordering (enemy) country to be married to a family friend's son. What agenda she carries with her behind the veil of marriage and how she is sacrificed by her own father and briefly trained by his own best buddies is one magical experience that every should have. The daring girl who takes life as it comes in Pakistan, the way she spies, collects the proofs and fights for own survival and at what cost, mind-blowing it was. VIcky Kaushal and Alia in almost the last scene of the movie were simply terrific, India Pakistan rivalry as well as friendship is beautifully depicted. Even the background score is hauntingly good and the songs are so aptly added.

I will say one of the best movies from this year so far for sure that every one should see without fail.

Red Sparrow was again a solid entertainer with terrific Jennifer Lawrence playing the lead character of Red Sparrow, trained by Russian Govt agency to tail an American CIA agent (to find an American mole in Russian Security). Exactly same situation like Raazi (almost) a girl with no background, family and support, struggling for survival after a freak accident where she loses her career (or whatever little she had) and an Uncle comes to her rescue with his own agenda. How and what he makes her is to be seen to be believed and the way she does it all with superb style is the movie all about. The perfect Russian spy taking on the American counterpart, first for a ride and then the double agent game, almost kept me hooked to the entire run-time (which was a little longer than expected) but it had so much going on at a breakneck pace that it was simply amazing. Jennifer Lawrence as always the case is, plays her character with an applaud much to the shock of other characters in the movie as she outdoes herself :). Although I believe there is too much blood, gore and sex in it but I believe that was the demand of the script to make it more believable. And it works wonders. Although the movie is a typical American movie taking a huge dig on Russia of current times I believe :) I would love to know what Russians think of the same, if this was actually released in Russia.

Have you seen both the movies? How about the similarities? I totally loved them both and gladly I saw both of them twice already as once I realized they were similar I had to see them again with my friends and wifey again :).

If you haven't see them, you've got to watch them at the earliest, do not miss them at any cost. But watch out while watching Red Sparrow, not for kids. And if you have seen them already, do let me know how you liked them.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo (Book)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo.

In my quest of reading a few more classics before I hit my target and the year comes to a close, I picked up this little gem of a book. Also it was a part of my last years book haul which still isn't coming any closer to an end, I am such a slow reader nowadays that 2018 pick ups will last me half of 2020 too. But little did I know that I will fall head over heels in love with the Hunchback :) exactly the way I cried bucket full of tears for Frankenstein's Creature. Wow! one can absolutely draw parallels between them, they are both almost the same characters on top of that their pains, happiness (if any), dreams and the way world behaves with them are absolutely same. Another thing which put a big smile on my face was the use of term "too good" by Victor Hugo (or his translator I may say) as now there will be no more debates on its grammatical correctness :) so if he uses it, I am going to use it too. Also that there can be two thats in one sentence back to back :). Loved the detailing of the two towers of Notre Dame, Seine the river and the scenic beauty of Paris. As they say History repeats itself, I was shocked to see almost a similar episode happening 400 years ago at Notre Dame which took place again not so long ago (related to fire). It is indeed an amazingly beautiful, heart-touching story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame which made me super emotional throughout and almost broke my heart by its beautiful unpredictable ending. I guess the translator was so impressed and touched by the Author's use of Latin so much that he has put so many verses and sentences just like that in the book, although they look beautiful by the looks of them but couldn't make out what they mean and on top of that they are no easy on us by giving no explanation what they mean :). Guess it helps a little further in making my pact stronger of learning Latin before I meet my maker.

Story revolves around half a dozen of very important characters and some even have a historical importance (accuracy I am not sure) too from Paris. But three of them became my favorite from the story are of-course the Hunchback (Quasimodo) living the life of a recluse till he finds a purpose for his life. The Gypsy girl (La Esmeralda) who is in search of her lost family and her cute goat who had some amazing magical powers and my third favorite in no particular order was the Notre Dame, its two terrific towers with a bell on top which has again a connection with the Hunchback. What all these three characters go through in the course of a few months is the entire story about, the deaf Hunchback falling in love with a girl and finding some purpose in his wasted life, the Gypsy girl falling in love with a man she can never get and about to get killed for the same, and the City of Paris going through a revolution against the then good for nothing King, his Dukes and Ministers. It had so much happening in such a short book (350+ pages only) and I loved it so much that I never wanted the book to come to an end. As although like I said that the ending is unpredictable but one could very well imagine where it is going to go by the time it comes to an end and that is actually an apt ending for a character like the Hunchback. love him as much you can but you cannot imagine him getting adjusted in our society, not then not now.

Have you read the Hunchback of Notre Dame? If you haven't read yet, I must say you've got to read it ASAP and if you have read it, do let know how you loved it. Also this book got me thinking and I am going to check post posting this that which was published first, The Hunchback of Notre Dame or the Frankenstein :), I am sure one of them inspired the other, what do you say?