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Tips to become a succesful book blogger
No one has become a superstar blogger overnight.Recognition in blogosphere takes time and there are no short cuts for achieving instant success as a blogger.Read like there is no tomorrow and pen down your sincere thoughts in a lucid, organised and unpretentious manner.Your work will definitely get its due.
Blogadda-Quikr Shopping Fiesta: My Experience
It was like a slap on my face.Thankfully Arun was not there with me to witness by embarassement. I was all set to call him when some random piece of paper with a phone number written on it from my pocket caught my attention.
Book Review:Salvation Of a Saint
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.
Interview with Doctor-turned- Writer Deepal Kripal
Earlier this week,we chatted with Doctor-turned-Author,Deepak Kripal.He has authored 'The Devil's Tale:An impossible journey',published by Leadstart Publishers.In this candid interview,he tells us about his debut work,future plans,his journey as a writer and his other interests in life.
Private India: Book Review
On the whole,'Private India' by James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi is a strictly average work.
January 16, 2012
Book Review: Aslam Rahaman's 'The Fortune Hunters'
AUTHOR: Aslam Rahaman
Genre: Romance
ISBN:9789381576816
Flipkart:http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381576816
NO. OF PAGES: 177
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2012 BY FROG BOOKS
PRICE: Rs.150 (Flipkart price-Rs.143 after discount)
'The Fortune Hunters', Aslam Rahaman's debut novel is a cross cultural Hindu-Muslim love story set in modern day India.
The plot-Aamir,a young Muslim is a happy go lucky guy who falls in love with Ragini who belongs to a conservative Hindu family.Set in New Delhi 'The Fortune Hunters' is the touching saga of their love which crosses all barriers of religion.The story is narrated in part by Aamir,the protagonist and by an omniscent narrator. The story leaps back and forth in time over a five year period.Though the book has got a wafer thin story line the twists and turns happening at regular intervals and the witty one liners makes this one a real page turner.
The Characters-The book is basically the love story between Aamir,an MBA graduate(thankfully no college sequences are there in this book!) and Ragini,a young Brahmin girl.Aamir's friends Devesh and his friend Manjari,Rohit,Aamir's brother Sohail, are some of the other characters.What I found brilliant about this book is how the lead characters were built – tangible, and believable.Aamir is the typical middle class North Indian boy while Ragini is the small town conservative Hindu-Brahmin girl.The other notable character is that of Manjari,the smart chick.
The writing-The language is pretty simple which makes the book an easy read.The author who is very well aware of his target audience hasn't resorted to unnecessary wordplays or other gimmicks.Most importantly this work is devoid of the clitches that is often associated with a book of this genre.The protagonists don't try to be 'cool' as it's often the case with the routine MBA/college love stories these days.Rahaman's Aamir and Ragini are normal middle class Indians whom the average reader can easily connect with.The book is peppered with witty one liners and some really interesting incidents which is sure to go down well with the Young urban reader.The scene where Aamir discovers the Bengali cuisine on his first visit to a kolkatta restaurant is genuinely hilarious.Similarly the marriage scene of Aamir and Ragini has also been narrated really well.So were the climactic sequences happening inside the court room.Though Aslam has succeded in telling the love story between Aamir and Ragini in a convincing and entertaining manner it is a pity that the author hasn't bothered to dwell into the age old Hindu-Muslim cultural differences when he had enough opportunity to do so.
On the downside the book suffers from un necessary detailing at places(the Sofi-Tabassum episode) whereas some vital incidents in the story gets very little importance(the scene in which Aamir discovers the truth about Ragini's friend Madhu).Corny lines are also there in plenty.For instance,in a particular scene (when Aamir is teased by Pinaki on his one night stand with Manjari) Aamir delivers this corny gem-"Virginity is never dignity but it's a lack of oppurtunity'.Repetition of some phrases and the minor grammatical errors which creeps in between also hampers the free flow of the narrative.The excessive usage of technical jargon at places could also have been avoided. Anyways at a time when atrocious works like 'Revolution 2020' are turning out to be the best sellers I believe Aslam Rahaman has got a winner in 'The Fortune Hunters'. Rating- 3/5( A decent debut)
(Aslam Rahaman is a young financial professional based in New Delhi where he lives with his wife and his son.'The Fortune Hunters' is his first published work.This is an author requested review)
-nikhimenon
-nikhimenon
January 15, 2012
Review Roundup: Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar
Sajin Raghavan's directorial debut 'Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar' had generated a lot of curiosity prior to it's release.The movie was supposed to be a prequel to the 2005 Malayalam hit 'Udhayananu Thaaram'(which was later remade in Tamil as 'Vellithirai' and in Hindi as 'Shortkut-the con is on').With Sreenivasan himself penning the script(and playing the title role of Saroj) 'PSK' was tauted as a sure shot winner.But it seems Sreeni and co have failed to recreate the magic of 'UT' this time.The reviews are mostly negative and the public opinion about the movie is also not very encouraging.
Sify writes...
There are certain relevant issues that are being pointed out in Padmashree Bharat Dr. Saroj Kumar, in true Sreenivasan style. Like why should we make so many films in Malayalam when even the Russians make only around 30 odd films annually? Though it succeeds in raising such genuine questions, unveiling some of the ridiculous star tantrums and questioning some of the existing theories, the film fails to become an engaging watch.Just as he actually is, superstar Saroj Kumar’s antics and his life turn out to be too loud and simply boring, in the end
Ben(a blogger and film critic) thinks Sreeni & co have overdone everything.Sreenivasan had come up with an interesting script along with Roshan Andrews in "Udayananu Tharam". Unfortunately, the same cant be said here as the film is just a mish mash of several real life events. Though it has been termed to be a satirical, I would rather term it as a distasteful take on the industry. Majority of the scenes were shot with reference to Lalettan be it the Lt.Col, Income tax raid, elephant tusk or his spat with Sukumar Azhikode, along with references to Prithviraj's English & Jayaram's Padmashree. However, there are a few genuinely humorous scenes such as Saroj's intro. With such a mediocre script on hand, I would term Sajin's efforts as decent while Deepak Dev's music was impressive in a rather pathetic film
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As it's often said,'Adhikam aayaal amruthum........!'
-nikhimenon
