In Focus: Our Moon Has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita

    I can’t fathom why all this is happeninng.If Kashmiris are demanding Azadi,why do the Pandits have to be killed?Why do we have to leave our house,where I play freely,and ride my cycle,and exchange comics with my friends?How is the burning of a temple or molesting a Pandit lady on the road going to help in the cause of Azadi?

  (Our Moon Has Blood Clots:The Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits,2013,Random House India)

PS: the review of this book will be published soon.

-nikhimenon

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Short Film Scripts for Sale -II

Image courtesy-FB

            After witnessing the 'stress' my gmail inbox has been subjected to,ever since thepublication of the previous post, I understand that some detailing regarding the content of those scripts is very much required.Well,as I had mentioned earlier,we have got three completed screenplays and one story idea which can be developed to a short film script.I am trying to give an overview of them here.

1.Title-(x)clusive,Genre-Satire,Approximate duration-15-18 minutes,Screenplay

Loosely based on an English short story,this one is the tale of a highly successful doctor who becomes the victim of media persecution,quite unexpectedly.Told in a light hearted tone,this one packs in a lot of humorous situations and culminates in a good message.

2.Title- The Plan,Genre-Horror/Thriller,Approximate duration-11-12 minutes,Screenplay

This story is about a thief who is planning a highway robbery.Though he succeeds in finding his victim,things quite don’t turn out as per his wish.His potential victim too had his own plans!This one is an edge of the seat horror thriller with an unexpected twist in the end.Can be made on a limited budget too,so ideal for 'student film makers' out there.

3.Title-The Mansion,Genre-Horror/Thriller,Aproximate duration-15-20 minutes,Screenplay

This too features a thief as it’s protagonist.He tries to break in to a big ‘Mansion’ but little did he know that the place was haunted.What happens next forms the crux of the story.Can be visualised if you have a limited budget for making your short.

4.Title-The Friend,Genre-Psychological Horror,Approximate duration-12-14 minutes,Story idea

This one is based on a real life incident which shook the nation a couple of months ago.Our protagonist is a fugitive and 'The Friend' is about an incident which occurs in his life that inturn changes it's course drastically.

For more info,please drop me a line @ nikhimenon@gmail.com

-nikhimenon

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Short Film Scripts for sale

Yes,you read it right.I am planning to sell the couple of short film scripts which I had written in the last couple of months.They(three completed screenplays and one story line which can be developed to a short film script,each of them close to 15-18 mins duration) were supposed to be filmed by my friend,Harish Krishnan(a reasonably known personality in the film-advertising circles)but couldn't,due to various reasons(read financial constraints).So,now we are planning to sell those scripts to those who are interested.(don't worry,you needn't have to sell your apartment for buying these Casablanca wannabes!,we just don't wish to send out the wrong signals by giving them free).Those of you guys out there who genuinely feel like checking them out or wish to enquire more about them,please drop me a line at nikhimenon@gmail.com.

Regards,

nikhimenon

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Hope,the only thing stronger than fear.....

President Snow:Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, alot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it's contained
Seneca Crane: So...
President Snow: So, contain it.

                                   {The Hunger Games(2012),Lionsgate/Color Force)

-nikhimenon

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Book Review:The Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino

Author:Keigo Higashino

Originally published in Japanese(2006)

Translated by: Alexander O Smith & Elye J Alexander(2012)

Pages:375

Published by: Abacus for Hachette India

Price:INR 350/-

Source:Blogadda book review program

                Keigo Higashino's 'The Devotionof Suspect X' was a special book for me for more than one reasons.It was not only a fascinating read but also one of the first books I had received from blogadda as a part of their book review program.I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and exactly a year later,I am here,reviewing Higashino's 'The salvation of a saint',again sent for review by the same wonderful people at blogadda.Before proceeding to the review,let me admit that this book,I believe is one of the best works to have ever featured in their review program.

The story-Ayane,a well known patchwork quilter is married to Yoshitaka,who is the CEO of an I.T. firm.Their marriage is on the verge of a divorce ,the reason for which he tells, is her inability to conceive.But Ayane is no idiot as she very well knows that her husband is having an illicit affair with her own apprentice, the beautiful Hiromi Wakayama. So,when he is found dead in his house, quite naturally,Ayane becomes the prime suspect.But how could have she pulled it off when she herself was hundreds of miles away,when the murder happened?Enter detective Kusanagi(whom we had earlier seen in ‘Suspect X’) and his new recruit ,the young,intelligent and enthusiastic female assistant Kaoru Utsumi.But when Kusanagi finds falling for Ayane's elusive charms,Utsumi secretly seeks the assistance of Yukawa,the physics professor at Imperial university(the same ‘Inspector Galileo’ from ‘The Suspect X’)to solve the mystery.

The characters-One of the major highlights of Higashino’s previous work was the believability of it’s characters.The same can be said about this book too.All the characters are tangible and believable and the reader can easily relate to the emotional turmoil which each of one of them is going through.As i had mentioned before ,a couple of the major characters from the earlier book (Kusanagi,Yukawa) make their appearances here also.Higashino has the uncanny knack of writing strong female characters and things aren’t different here either.Neither of them,be it the enthusiastic female detective(Kaoru Utsumi),nor the wife(Ayane)-mistress(Hiromi)duo are mere props in the narrative.But for me,the  pick of the lot is definitely Mrs Mashiba,who appears intelligent,cool,calm and calculative through out the proceedings.On the flip side,i found the behaviour of kusanagi a bit weird at times(not going on to the details as I don’t wish to spoil the fun for those who haven’t read the book yet).

The writing-Quite like Higashino’s previous one,this book is also a page turner.But what makes it different from 'Suspect X' is that the identity of the killer isn’t revealed in the beginning itself here.Infact except for a minor clue which the reader gets to know towards the end of the first chapter(“guess,I’ll be using that soon”...,she thought),the true identity of the killer,his/her motive,modus operandi et al are kept concealed till the end.Higashino manages to keep the reader guessing for a pretty long time without breaking the suspence.The climax is a killer twist and i don’t think even the hardcore fans of the genre will be able to foresee what is in store for them!Last but not the least,I must say that both Alexander O Smith and Elye J have done a brilliant job in translating this masterpiece from Japanese.

 What I liked the most about the book

1.The scenes between Ayane and Hiromi.

2.The scene in which Yukawa gives Kusanagi the example of the dinosaur fossils to point out the potential error of judgement in the course of their investigation.

What I didn’t like-

1.It took me some time to get acquainted with the principal characters.To be frank,I definitely believe that the average Indian reader will find it a bit tough to recall their names initially(especially while reading the first two chapters when too many characters with pretty ‘unusual names’ are introduced in quick succession).

2.Towards the second half of the book,the pace slackens a bit and after a point it becomes slightly tedious.

3.The characters(especially the investigators) converse and speculate a lot in the story.I wish there were more plot twists and thrilling sequences instead.

Verdict-On the whole,’The Salvation Of Saint’ is a decent thriller.It may not be as racy as ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’,but still it’s a pretty good one. Rating-3.9/5

 This review is a part of the biggest Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!

-reviewed by nikhimenon

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Indian Media in Bed with Politicans

Saw this post somewhere else.Have a look.It tells how the ruling Congress party has manipulated the Indian Media over the years.

(From FB)

-nikhimenon

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The Newsroom Mafia by Oswald Periera- A very short review

Oswald Periera's debut novel,'The Newsroom Mafia' has an interesting premise. It tells the story of the dark underbelly of Bombay and the unholy nexus which exists between the criminals,the fourth estate and the Government.But the book which could have been a taut thriller is terribly let down by mediocre writing.With too many underdeveloped characters(even the don,Narayana Swamy and the narrator,Oscar turning out to be poorly etched out ones!) ,illogical situations and a pretty bad climax,the book despite it's potential ends up being pretty average. Rating-2/5

-nikhimenon

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The illicit happiness of other people by Manu Joseph- a very short review

                   

I had thoroughly enjoyed Manu Joseph's Award winning first novel,Serious Men.He didn't disappoint me this time either.His second work,'The Illicit Happiness of Other People',is also a satirical take on the Indian society.Set in the Madras of the 90's,the book traces the life and death of seventeen year old Unni Chacko,the son of Ouseph Chacko,a failed writer and Mariamma chacko,a Malayalee christian woman with a troubled past.The book is also  the story of Unni's younger brother, Thoma and his love for his neighbour Maithili Subramaniam.Witty,satirical and even philosophical at times,this book is really a good read and defintely has the potential to grab a couple of awards.

My Rating- 4/5

-nikhimenon

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So many people in this world.....

Many many people....Nature has to keep making billions of people so that by pure chance,finally,one person will be born who will make it!

                          -Manu joseph,'The illicit Happiness of Other People',4th Estate,2012.

and obviously,most of them are dumb and do their own little animal things again and again.....!!!!!

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Lol!

This one is hilarious!

-nikhimenon

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Book Review: F?@K KNOWS BY SHAILENDRA SINGH

F?@K KNOWS

Author:Shailendra Singh

Publisher:Rupa

Price:INR 195

Pages:234

Source:Review Copy via blogadda.com

First Published: 2013

Homeshop 18

   (Shailendra Singh,the author of ‘F?@K knows’ is the Managing Trustee of United Welfare Trust and Joint Managing Director of Percept Ltd.This is his first book)                    

                     Don’t get deceived by it’s title,’F?@k knows’ by first time author Shailendra Singh, is not your typical ‘boy meets girl-in I.I.T’ stuff.This book is a self-help manual for better living.If you are a regular reader of this blog,you might have figured out by now that I am not a great fan of these ‘Self-Help’ guides.I find them boring, unrealistic,highly impractical and simply not worth my time and money! But,after reading this humorous new book by Shailendra singh, I think my aversion towards this genre has got reduced considerably.

 

In about 74 chapters,Singh discusses

*the necessity of self-realisation for a better life

*Why one should listen to his heart and live life to the fullest

*the importance of getting rid of negative,unwanted thoughts

*the vitality of choosing a job which one loves

*why he thinks,’greed is good’!

*the importance of humility in life
*destiny,God,relationships,gut feelings,sex,unpredictability of life,career et al

                   F?@K Knows might not be a literary marvel or something,but still i believe it's a book which is worth reading.One sad thing which is quite common with books of this genre is the excessive usage of metaphors which only serves the purpose of creating confusion among it's readers.In 'F?@k Knows',the author(thankfully) hasn't resorted to too many of them which makes the book more appealing to the average reader.

What I liked the most about the book

1.Singh’s writing style and the length of the book- the book is written in a light hearted tone which makes it an interesting read.Even the most distressing/traumatic incidents are written with a pinch of humour. is written in a light manner .(Sample this-"Yeah,he's only got four months left.He's in the fourth stage of lung cancer"."Uh...fourth stage?What happened to stages one,two and three?").'F?@k knows' is basically old wine in a newer,super cool bottle.There is pretty much nothing in this book which we haven't heard or read before.But I am pretty sure that this is the most humorous take on some of the hard hitting facts about life!

2.As Singh himself has said in the book,this book is free from the usual cliches' associated with the self-help guides.You won't see small quotes by famous personalities followed by painfully long blocks of prose in this book. 

3.Shailendra Singh’s 'Chi f?@K' breathing exercise(believe me,it works!) 

4.The author has intelligently linked each and every message he wants to tell to one of his personal experiences.The episode about ‘Pyar mein Kabhi Kabhi,Phir Milenge' (two mainstream Indian feature films which delt with the theme of AIDS/HIV awareness) is worth mentioning.I’m sure that even the most depressed minds will relish his/her ‘breath’ for atleast a second,after reading this.

 

What I didn’t like-

1.Repetition of themes-The book definitely deserved a better editor.Some of the ‘thoughts’ get repeated multiple times.Okay,we understand the importance of celebrating our lives.But,why tell the same thing again and again? After a point,it is boring.

2.Singh seems to contradict himself at times.

3.At places,the book feels a bit fake and some of the chapters didn’t even make any sense to me either(or may be, I am too old to understand the subtle message the writer was trying to convey!)

          I must also confess that the title and the cover design of this book had also left me a bit confused.As i had mentioned before,I was expecting a desi campus love story, targeted at the Young Urban Indian when I picked up this book and was pleasantly surprised when I was proved wrong.

 

Verdict-Inshort,F?@K knows is a thought-provoking read which is never dull or preachy.You wan’t regret buying this book.Rating-3/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!

-reviewed by nikhimenon 2013

(please don't copy)

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