Film Review: The Nanny Diaries

The title was interesting.. so the movie was started. The cast had Scarlett Johansson. 

What a movie! 

It tells the story through the eyes of a nanny who works for a rather rich family. 

All the stereotypes are in place - the philandering husband, the botox-ing wife, the neglected yet lovable child. 

BUT, this young lady is a college graduate. Her mother, who is a nurse and a single parent, has put her through college and thinks her daughter is working in the finance industry. 

There is a neighbour - a "Harvard Hottie" as he is officially called in the film (and it took me this long to discover that Chris Evans is sooooo much more than Captain America (my loss, entirely). 

Unfortunately, all the cliches are true, which makes this a tragic-comic tale of every day life, love, betrayal, and hope. 

The technicals are adequate. The casting is spot on, the costumes less so. 

This film is like a day in early spring - not perfect, but pretty darn close. 

My favourite part? The Mary Poppins reference. Absolutely brilliant! 

Bhagodiyaan

 "सुबह उठेगा, तब क्या होगा?" 

"तब तक तो हम बहुत दूर निकल गई होंगी" 

"पर किसी का कोई सिर, आँचल, कुछ पकड़ लिया तो? वह छूट न पाएगी!"

"एक-आधे अंग से, मूरत बनती है क्या? हम सब आज़ाद हैं, आज़ाद ही रहेंगी!" 

"और वो कल फिर हमें बांध लाया तो?" 

"इतना जतन करने जोग होता, तो रात में ही न बांध लेता? चलो, चलो, डरने की कुछ बात नहीं है। "

- कविता की वे पंक्तियाँ 

जिन्हें रात को दिमाग में रखा था, 

सुबह कागज़ के हवाले करने को 

 

*This post is inspired by a poem by Rohit Shrivastava 

Book Review: "Bestseller She Wrote" by Ravi Subramaniam

When one picks up a Ravi Subramaniam book, the expectations are high. Please read this book review with that pinch of salt. 

The blurb calls it a thriller and the cover calls it a thriller. It is not a thriller in the conventional sense of the term. Or, maybe I am not reading the right thrillers. It is a pageturner, but many of those pages are turned without fully reading. 

The book picks up pace in the second half though, as knots are unraveled and secrets revealed. 

When you publish a book, editors and publishers tell you to increase the word count - as if the book is a per word product that the reader is buying. Ironically, people buy longer looking books, but dont have the time to read them. I think authors need to stand up for themselves. Ravi Subramniam is a taut storyteller and that is one of his strengths. So many passages in this book are unlike his style (yes, i have read most of his books). So much of this book is passable (literally and figuratively). 

When one read that RS has written a book outing the underbelly of the publishing industry, hopes naturally went up. But the weak plot and the irrelevant story telling (no, we don't read RS books for seduction scenes or how each peg of whisky is downed). 

All in all, not one of his best works, but definitely a page turner, especially in the second half. You can speed read the first half, and it will still make all the sense in the world. 

A good editor would have struck out the bulk of the first part and much of the second part. (I have listed these parts below, but thats a plot spoiler, so read only if you need to). 

The book has the following parts: 

A. Aditya is seduced by Shreya. 

B. Maya finds out and all hell breaks loose. 

C. Shreya blackmails Aditya and he is forced to comply. 

D. Aditya does some investigation, outs all the villians and comes out on top. 

कतरन: साहब, बीवी, और ग़ुलाम

ये जले का निशान कैसे आया? कोई अपने परिवार के सदस्य को इस तरह जलाता है?! छि! 

शुभचिंतक होने के नाते एक सुझाव दूँ? पराई आग में हाथ मत डालो। 

ये आग पराई नहीं है। 

TTT: Respect

Leave me Alone! 

OK. 

Two years later: 

Imagine bumping into you!! Where the hell did you vanish? I tried calling, texting.. you just... ghosted me! 

You did say.. Leave me alone. 

I said that one time!! 

Once is enough. 

नंगापन

नंगापन 

कपड़ों के आविष्कार तक 

शर्मनाक नहीं था।