Tanu weds Manu returns - 2X Kangana

Tanu weds Manu 2 is a refreshing take on what happens during happily ever after that most our Bollywood movies climax leaves us with.

Events take place after 4 years from where the first movie ended. It is the usual bickering between husband and wife that ends in Madhavan landing in a mental asylum. Though, why the couple was in a mental asylum seeking marriage counseling is beyond me. Nevertheless, this opening sequence sets the tone for the movie and is carried throughout. I went in the theater with the mindset that Tanu would don an alternate avatar to lure Manu back into the marriage but my assumption was wrong. Kangana indeed plays a double role, which incidentally is  more fun to watch as both characters are polar opposite. How Manu sharma falls for the second Kangana and whether he comes back to Tanu or not is what the movie is all about.

Kangana has come a long way since first iteration (review here) in 2011 where I found her explicitly expressionless. This Kangana is really worthy of every frame she is in whether it is as Tanu or Kusum. Madhavan has played his role as a frustrated husband turned new lover as good as he could. Deepak dobriyal is well used although his angle of the story is totally irrelevant to the basic movie premise. However, he has overshadowed protagonist Madhavan in every frame that they shared. From his high pitched dialogue delivery to witty one liners, it is a joy to watch him. Jimmy Shergill as Raja awasthi has limited screen time and has his fare share of wit. You can't help but feel sorry for him as he loses another one. Mohd. Zeeshan Ayub as Chintu is a new introduction and has been utilized well till the first half. From thereon it is a downward journey for him. Rest of the cast remains the same and has limited scope and thus visibility.

Dialogues are well written and one liners have been used to replace heavy sentiment laden monologues. Kangana's poetic one liners carry the entire pain of a wife hurt by a remarrying husband. Deepak's witty jokes keep you amused throughout the movie and are never out of place. Even serious Raja gets his fare share of acidic wit.

Amitav Sarkar also known as Krsna Solo deserves the best music award for this movie. Among some originals, movies also borrows a couple of old gems "Sun sahiba sun" & "Ja ja ja bewafa". Songs are well placed and worth humming. Not at one time do you want to grab a remote and fast forward the songs because they don' make sense or are ill placed.

All in all it is good movie to watch and is a great value for money or as we call it "Paisa vasool". You may want to watch it for Manu Sharma, Pappi, Raja or Chintu; but you must watch it for Tanu/Kusum because if there is anything better than watching this Kangana, it is watching her in two roles in one movie.


#tanuwedsmanu2

Punjab 1984 - Not for faint hearted

Diljit has arrived, and he is here to stay. From Comedy churning team of Diljit Dosanjh and Director Anurag Singh, comes a movie about what many discuss but few dare to depict.

The movie is set in years following Operation Blue star with backdrop of rural Punjab. Unlike what the title may make you think, Plot revolves around a mother's search to find her son who was taken into custody by Police and is not seen for over a year. I thought that nobody could equal Divya Dutta (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) when it came to making watchers cry but Kirron Kher matched it inch by inch. Some power packed performance I must say. After a streak of super hit comedy movies, one would think that Diljit Dosanjh is typecasted into the roles he has been doing. However, he proved that he is every bit a good a actor as he is a good singer. His mettle as an actor is proven in every frame that he is in. Every one has pitched in with utmost sincerity and great acting. Sonam Bajwa, who debuted in Gippy Grewal's Best of luck, is surprise package and impresses in her scenes. Pavan Malhotra as antagonist Deep Rana is overpowering in his frames. He overshadows Diljit in every frame where hey share the screen. It was refreshing to see some old DD faces including Arjuna Bhalla. Took me back to DD Jalandhar's days. Full points to casting director for fool proof ensemble of actors.

Music is melodious and mellifluous. Songs are used as a tool for time compression. Never once you think that songs are forced or don't fit in the bigger picture. You are left wondering about when did the song start. It is like a sweater with a pattern knitted by your mother. So seamless and interwoven into the whole scheme. Lyrics are apt and fitting. Veet Baljeet and Raj Ranjodh has created magic with Kismat, Swaah bannke and Channo. Diljit has lent his voice to all tracks except one opening track that could not have been handled better by anyone other than Sukhwinder Singh.

All in all, if you think that you will be taken through a fact based documentary styled on terrorism in Punjab during 80s; I am sorry but this movie is not for you. However, if you want to see some overpowering performances by Kirron kher, Pavan Malhotra, Diljit Dosanjh and Sonam Bajwa; you will not be disappointed. One of the few movies that could move me to tears.

Now That You are Rich - Durjoy Dutta fumbles again

The second book in Deb-Avantika Trilogy has little to do with either Deb or Avantika. To know more about first book and these two you can read my review here.

Story revolves around four people from different walks of life who come together at a Finance firm and become friends. Story then carries on to their friendship, break-up and eventually there becoming friends again. There is loads of romantic angles to the story and hint of lust too.

The book suffers the same flaw as the first one and more. Story is narrated by Deb and frankly, narrative is pretty flat. There are loads and loads of grammatical mistakes. Sentences don't make any sense at times.  For example," The jet had was slowing down", "There would a few more in his garage" & "are you will give buy him that too?". Seemingly no one pointed it out for the first book and hence the problem was never corrected. Uenlike the first book, there are no witty one liners that can make you smile. I finished the book because I had to. Not because book was good or something but because it is against my principles to leave any book unread midway.

If you are turned off by bad language, grammar, lousy narrative and flat story, I suggest you keep your hands off the book.

Of course I Love you... Only I can't

 I was intrigued by the title of the book, and subsequent ones for that matter, and wondered if the plot would involve some infidel and heart breaking drama. It, however, turned out as a title with a deeper meaning. "Ofcourse I love you...till I find someone better" is refreshing take on college romance and its effects. Author, or Authors as they are, takes the reader on a whirlwind of Journey. Dialogue are witty and humorous, even dark at times. Story revolves around Deb, a semi-fat semi-stud, who finds true love in Avantika. As for Avantika, she is a 'been there done that' girl and had her fair share of drugs & boyfriends before meeting with Deb and slowly realizing the truth of their relationship.


 Focus is entirely on story and a racy narrative. There is little done on developing the characters except a little for Deb, the hero. It would have been better if there was a little insight about other characters like Shrey. Avantika, the Heroine, is also treated similarly with little said about her past and for that matter current except her interactions with Deb.

Story is good and thats about it to the Novel. If there is anything I despise more than a bad story or narrative, its bad editing. There are way to many grammatical mistakes and they are spred evenly thorugout the novel(All errors in last sentence are intentional). A major blunder that I just can't accept at any level is that there is a WHOLE PAGE missing. There is no page 138. The sequence blissfully goes like 137,128,139,140 and so on. I don't blame the Authors as much as I would blame The proofreader and Editor. Its almost like there was no one to proof read the book before it was sent to press. 

Verdict: Good story & Narrative. BAD BAD BAD Editing.

Two Fates - Story of My Divorce - Stretched humor

I liked Two states by Chetan Bhagat (referred to as CB hereafter ) and it was only natural that I read this book too after I chanced upon it. I was browsing through an online book store and was intrigued by the synopsis. Pre-ordered the book right away and I am not regretting it.

Two Fates continues two years after CB's book. Since it is supposedly a continuation to CB'ss book Author takes liberty and assumes that readers have gone through it and hence does little on character development. Narrative is good and keeps you engaged until you reach at midpoint. First 100 pages of 199 page long story keeps you glued and interested. Somewhere after the half-way mark wit, sarcasm and the detailed narrative starts to get on your nerves. At two-third mark one actually starts counting pages till end. Narrative, naturally, is influenced by involvement of a one too many characters. Some characters are redundant and could have been done without. You might relate to some characters personally and a couple to your relatives. Like they say everyone has a duplicate.

Witty sarcasm is all abound the story and is plenty.  Central characters keep throwing regional sarcastic remarks throughout the story. Apparently, Judy Balan, the author has done good research on intricacies of two cultures, namely Punjabi and Tamilian and uses it to highlight witty, sarcastic remarks by Hero and Heroin.

It is Judy Balan's first book and she can be excused for a little faltering in narrative and continuity. The book ,overall, is above average and much better than many corporate executive turned writer's pathetic excuse of a novel.

If you appreciate dark humor and sarcasm, then you should definitely read this book.

God Save the Dork - Dorky corporate humor

Having not read the Original "Dork", I hadn't the slightest idea of what to expect. Except some reviews that were all gaga for first book and good enough for second book, I was totally uninitiated.

The story continues in the same universe where the last book ended. There are abundant references to the first book in the current story, which kind of irritates and takes your mind off the current topic at hand. One keeps wondering what the mentioned 'incidents' were and how it affected The Dork. Naturally, story revolves around the hero, Robin 'Einstein' Varghese; who is working on client side at their London office and trying to improve the organization qualitatively. While doing so he has to attend to his personal agendas as well, that include but are not limited to, an irritatingly nagging girlfriend and a crush on a colleague. Considering the fact that the project is not going very well, it seems out of place.

First half of the book is pretty good and is very humorous. it has some very funny situations and at times there is a feeling of deja-vu. Story stretches a bit towards the end and one can't help but longing for it to end. After a while it feels like an endless narrative of a smart-ass, jargon spitting, corporate worker. Just like a Bollywood movie,the detail is lost towards end and a wrap up is performed. As a result somethings are left on reader's discretion. For people, who don't know about short selling or equity markets, the end might not make sense as they won't know what happened actually and how an investment in company that eventually goes bankrupt can yield millions.

Verdict: Good read if you have time to finish it in one sitting. Four reading hours should be enough. Some good punches that will actually make you laugh. A tale only a Dork would cherish.

Secret of Nagas - Multiverse continues

After reading book one of Shiva trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha, I was very excited to dive into the second part. Since I had ordered the set of two, there was almost zero wait time before jumping into it.

The book continues the promising story and narrative into the better part of novel. Author has successfully compiled the mythological events into an action/adventure storyline. At times it gets so realistic and logical that one starts feeling that all the stories he has heard till now were senseless.

Introduction of new characters is seamless and author has done a commendable job. Introduction of elephant headed Ganesha and deformed Naga queen is handled exceptionally well. Novel carries on smoothly till the middle and then suddenly the narrative hits a low point. Shiva's involvement with Vasudevas & his fixation with Brihspati irritates at times. Shiva seems very attached to Brihaspati and further devastated by his death. The development of any such close relationship was neither displayed nor developed during the course of two books. Hence, at times reader fails to relate to Shiva's anger towards suspected murderers and his anger towards Naga clan.

Another annoying part of this section of the story is that there is not a single major character except Parvateshawar(who by now also believes in prophecy), who sees Shiva as who he really is, that is a Mortal like everyone. I simply can't accept the fact there is absolutely zero resistance to Neelkanth.

Last chapter in book one was titled "Question of Questions" and book two it "Secret of All Secrets". I guess the final chapter in Book three would be "Answer of All Answers".:-D

Verdict: Although the Magical multiverse continues, not as entertaining and gripping as Book one. A surprising twist awaits you in the last chapter that will keep you wondering about the motives of many characters and waiting for third book. Anyways, you have to read through it to get to the other end of the story where the book three awaits.

Immortals of Meluha - Mythological Multiverse Begins

It was a chance that I stumbled upon the blurb of Immortals of Meluha.  The moment I read about the plot I was hooked and wanted some of it. The plot promised so much there was much anticipation. So I ordered the both the available books of The Shiva Trilogy, and am I glad that I did.

The basic plot of story, Shiva being an ordinary man who has been visioned as the ultimate savior, 'The Neelkanth', holds immense potential for narrative, character building and story telling. Author Amish Tripathi has done a very good job at spinning a gripping narrative. He takes time to develop characters, sub-plots & storyline. At no point do you feel that it is being stretched for sake of it.

The novel is well written and is pretty detailed without being overtly sketchy. In the beginning of the novel, you can actually feel the coldness of the Mansarovar lake and chilliness of wind at Kailash. Finer nuisances of characters like Shiva's indulgence with weed, Nandi's build and his servility or Bhadra's friendly loyalty towards Shiva, are very well woven into the narrative. Since the plot is based on the basic premise that our mythology is truth disfigured by time, the narrative  is well connected and explains a lot of things in a new light. Author with his immaculate style makes you believe in the narrative and somewhere down the line the difference between the set mythology and this Multiverse begins to dissolve.

All characters, like Sati & Brihaspati, are introduced in due time and are very well placed. Character development is handled very efficiently throughout the novel. All the characters sketches are kept close to their original stereotype but with a logical deduction and sound reasoning.

Immortals of Meluha is Mythology married to Matrix. If there really are Multiverse, then it can be no different than what Amish has written. A must read for fresh perspective on Hindu Mythology.

Revolution 2020 - Another Chetan Bhagat great or Bollywood Fiasco

I have just finished reading it and I must say that I am not impressed. I had pre-ordered the book online and forgot about it, so there was no anticipation involved when I started reading the book.

  Story starts similarly to "Three mistakes of my life" with CB ending up in a hospital with the hero named, not surprisingly, Gopal. Story starts in similar fashion with Gopal narrating the story and CB ending it up in a book to be shared with his readers. Disappointingly enough, CB misses on the fact that his fans expect a certain level of quality from his books. CB's stories end up as movies but this one seems like it is inspired by some SRK movie. With clichéd scenes like Gopal pissing off heroine, Aarti, by using two prostitutes and his change of heart on watching a poor dying kid who haunts him in the dreams, this book is pretty disappointing for CB fans.


The story is not original and refreshing as Five points someone(FPS), not  captivating & gripping as Three Mistakes of My Life(TMML) and definitely not interesting as Two States(TS). Skip it if you can.

Fun fact: You may not have noticed but names of all the Heroes of CB's stories are spinoffs of Lord Krishna's Name, starting with Hari, Shyam, Govind, Krish and now Gopal. This is my original deduction and is published here for the first time.