Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 279

A Rainy Day

The unwelcome patter calls

A chill comes with the drops

Seeping through all our walls

Like serpents to suck our spirits

Invisible yet overwhelming

Burdening the air with sorrow

Relentless in its humming

Pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat

Rapidly ferocious & murderous

Drowning those poor blooms

Left unattended on the terrace

In need of only a light spray

But clouds are always fickle

Unpredictable in their offerings

Sometimes an amorous drizzle

Or knell for fateful endings

Note: It’s been raining the whole day in my part of the world, and while for some, such showers might be romantic, for me it’s cold and depressing. So I wrote this poem, echoing my mood.

Chhotu – Graphic Novel Review

Chhotu by Varud Gupta and Ayushi Rastogi is a graphic novel set during the India-Pakistan partition. As the title suggests, it’s about an orphan boy Chhotu, who falls in love with a classmate and attempts to solve a case of disappearing potatoes on the sides.

The story is part satirical, part pop-culture overload. Despite being set in the 1940s, it has a lot of 90s Bollywood references, with even a Harry Potter phrase thrown in somewhere. All of that makes the story-telling quite chaotic. The writers probably thought it would make it more relatable to modern readers, but come across as “trying too hard”.

I expected an earnest tale like “Munnu”, a graphic novel by another Indian writer, that was a beautiful book about growing up in Kashmir. Guess it’s an unfortunate case of ‘expectation vs reality’ for me, but I didn’t enjoy the book very much. Might be a fun read for younger bibliophiles. It’s a 2.5/5 for me.

Miss India Review – Tea poured with excessive cliches

It took me three days to watch the 2020 film titled “Miss India” which had been trending on Netflix for a while. I don’t even know why I bothered, probably to write a review by the end of it.

Directed by Narendra Nath,”Miss India” is about a spunky girl called Manasa Samyukta who wants to be a businesswoman when she grows up. Her mom & dad however are of the view that business is not for women and that she must aim at getting married once she is an adult. What follows is a predictable story that is served with one cliche after the other, making it a painful movie watching experience.

Keerthi Suresh who plays Samyukta is earnest in her role, but the problem is the silly script-writing. Let me give you an example – Samyukta pursues MBA in America and talks about SWOT analysis to her clueless peers. SWOT analysis is taught to us in school, so it’s ridiculous to see a bunch of MBA students discussing what it is.

It’s evident in the first ten minutes that little Samyukta will grow up and set up a tea business somewhere. But it takes one hour twenty minutes for “Miss India” to finally show up in the film. It comes in the form of the lead character’s business name. Too much time is wasted on irritating things. Almost everyone in Samyukta’s life is a non-supportive asshole; be it her mom who just wants her to marry and settle down, her bossy brother who is a prick, her friends who do not believe in her business idea, her boyfriend who just wants a ‘simple girl’. Then there is a caricature like villain, who is supposed to be a rival business-owner, but is characterized as if he is some mafia boss. Ugh.

Maybe the director had his heart in the right place, he wanted to show how a strong independent woman battles rampant sexism to prove naysayers wrongs and become a brand name to reckon with. That however doesn’t mean every other person around her needs to be either sexist or simply unrealistic. Right at the beginning, there is a scene where Samyukta’s older sister who is about to start practicing law, shows up at their front door, after getting married to a stranger without their knowledge. She ties the knot with a boyfriend whose existence wasn’t even known to the family and at a time when they are going through a financial crisis. It just makes no sense. The sister story serves little to further the plot, except establish the fact that the lead has shitty siblings.

I actually fast-forwarded a lot of the film and even then it took me three days to finish it. Just couldn’t gulp this tea in one go. There is no character growth, no nuanced storytelling, no originality, just bland boring drama. Even the logo of Samyukta’s tea chain is not original – it’s a cup with a crown above it; remind anybody of a brand called Starbucks? Sigh.

I can wrap the film in one sentence – little girl wants to be businesswoman, but everyone tells her she cannot do so, but little girls grows up and proves them wrong. Finish.

I Told Sunset About You Review – Will Take You Back In Time

The 2020 Thai coming of age series ‘I Told Sunset About You’ (ITSAY) is a love letter to the world from director Naruebet Kuno. Starring Putthipong Assaratanakul AKA Bilkin and Krit Amnuaydechkorn AKA PP in lead roles, this five episode story looks like it’s from a different era, despite being set in the present, where teens speak their hearts via Instagram stories.

Set in Phuket, the series shows us a slow transformation of ties between two friends Teh (Bilkin) and Oh-aew (PP). They are friends first, then foes and finally lovers. The story is as old as time, just like how first-love and first heart-break feels the same way across the globe. It is the beautiful background score, the carefully picked locations and the talented actors that breathe magic into every little scene unfolding in this drama.

Naruebet Kuno and team have spun a beautiful tale of teen love, confusion and angst. Teh and Oh-aew are childhood best-friends who do not speak to each other for almost five years after a small fight. The friendship is rekindled when the two are in their last year of school and attend Chinese classes as part of their preparation to enter a University.

Bilkin is charming as the studious, competitive and jealous Teh who begins to desire his friend Oh-aew but isn’t ready to embrace the sudden sexual awakening. His co-star PP is equally endearing as the vulnerable and sensitive Oh-aew, who aspires to become an actor. The two lead actors disarm the audience with their on-screen chemistry that comes across as raw and believable. Pongpol Panyamit (Khunpol) who plays Bass needs special mention for his role as Oh-aew’s crush. He is delightful as the quiet, shy junior who is wise beyond his years and has absolutely no qualms about expressing his love.

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Teh lives in a house that seems right out of the 1980s, with gorgeous woodwork and furniture that looks like it was picked in an antique shop. His friendship with Oh-aew blossoms as the two do Chinese lessons in his house. There is a certain innocence in this series that is lacking in most series that you’ll find cluttering the internet/streaming sites.

Unlike most Thai shows that have very obvious, cringe-worthy product placements, ITSAY didn’t have any glaring ads stuffed in the script to please advertisers. It was also refreshing to not see any stereotypical tropes and exaggerated characters that one sees in LGBT series these days. There is also no sub-plot to distract the viewer from the main story.

The background score has a huge part in making the show a visual treat. Each scene is accompanied by tracks that sound like a traditional mix of Thai/Chinese tunes and are very pleasant to the ears. The music enhances the emotional quotients of important moments, like the one where Teh and Oh-aew resolve to become friends again.

ITSAY is an absolutely binge-worthy show and has a high re-watch value. It realistically portrays male friendships, the pangs of sexual confusion and the despair of a first heart-break. Director Kuno also deftly displays how youngsters tend to make rash, reckless life changing decisions while in a relationship that can have a lasting impact on their future.

The only scene that I felt was a departure from the rest of the story was an underwater kiss scene. It’s absolutely understandable that the director wanted a beautiful shot, a first kiss that’s away from prying eyes of the world, but the scene was a little far-fetched. Kissing in sea-water cannot be that picture-perfect. Although, to the director’s credit, it’s a memorable scene, surreal as it is.

The climax was smooth and ties up all the turbulent emotions of the characters in a neat promising ending. It’s a 9/10 for me and I cannot wait for season two!

November Book Haul

It’s been a while since I bought a bunch of novels together and they were delivered today, with a really sweet note from the seller. Sweet note apart, his has to be my best book haul for the year.

So I got a total of six books, four among them are graphic novels, three of which are hardbacks. Amazon India doesn’t even have the hardback available for one of the titles, it’s called “Imagine Wanting Only This” by Kristen Radtke.

The other three graphic novels are ‘Chhotu’, ‘Freedom Hospital’ and ‘Northern Lights’. Most of them are second-hand, but in mint condition. I’ve never read anything by Margaret Atwood and PG Wodehouse, so picked them up. If you are an Indian bibliophile, check out BookChoor, they have a pretty cool stock of second-hand titles at very satisfying prices! SO SO WORTH IT.

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White Bird Book Review

Took a break from all the blood, gore and undead of comics and shifted focus on R.J. Palacio’s beautiful graphic novel “White Bird”.

While the book begins with a facetime call between a boy and his grandmere, we are soon transported to 1940s, when the Germans are slowly taking over France during the war. Grandmere recalls her life as a Jewish teen Sara & how a kind classmate saves her life from Nazi guns.

The panels are illustrated simply, but bring to life the extraordinary story of Sara and her transformation from a selfish brat to a young girl who finally sees the world beyond pretty shoes, school crushes & popularity. Sara’s benefactor is a poor boy who she sat next to in school for three years, but never spoke a word to.

At the heart of it, “White Bird” is about friendship. The last few pages gave me goosebumps – in a good way. The white bird is symbolic of not just peace, but freedom too; a bird that can fly anywhere, free from hate, prejudices and racial barriers.

The Walking Dead Vol. 3 Review

It’s Friday the 13th and I am still reading issue after issue of the horror comic series “The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman & team. Couldn’t pick a better day to put up another review of the series.

Volume 3 “Safety Behind Bars” starts with cop Rick & his crew cleaning up a prison facility to make it their new home. It’s already guarded by sturdy walls, offering protections against the zombies, they just need to get rid of the ones inside.

A lot of fucked up shit happens in the issues contained in volume 3. Given the generous amount of ‘f’ words Kirkman sprinkles throughout, I don’t think me dropping ‘f’ bombs in my review is such a big deal either.

Every fan of the series probably admires the paradoxical brilliance of how our leads find a prison to be the safest place for settling town at a time when dead are walking over their lands. Of-course there are some lucky inmates who manage to survive in their and there is a new ‘us vs them’ dimension in this volume. It’s Rick’s pack versus jailbirds, neither group trusts the other, so everybody is on the edge.

It’s in this issue that most people learn the most valuable lesson that the reader will find in this series – there is something more sinister than the walking dead – the living.

The Walking Dead Vol 2 Review

I’ve been devouring ‘The Walking Dead’ like a maniac, it’s pretty much me sitting dead in one position on the couch and reading one issue after the others. But I will make this post just about volume two.

While the first volume follows cop Rick’s journey through Zombie infested lands to track down his family, the second volume is where things turn darker and grittier. If the first book was about family, friends & heartwarming reunions, the second one is all about survival, senility & hunt for a new home.

There’s a lot more bloodshed, zombies and crazies as a small group of survivors elect Rick to lead them through a harsh winter and establish safe living conditions. A lot of new characters are introduced in this volume, some of whom are going to last a while. Glen who used to be the scavenger of the group meets a potential love interest. Readers for the first time see a dark shade to Rick, who loses his shit when a man mistakes his son Carl for a Zombie.

While Tony Moore had done the inks for the first six issues that comprised volume one, Charlie Adlard has drawn the rest of the series. Adlard tends to use more dark tones in the panels and his style is more melancholic than Moore, which adds to the despairing mood.

To any Zombie/horror fan who has not read this series – you have got to catch up! Can’t believe I didn’t!

Laxmii Review – Very Little Laxmii & A Total Stink Bomb

Director Raghava Lawrence’s film ‘Laxmii’ had been in the news for all the wrong reasons before its release and all the publicity might have helped the Askhay Kumar starrer grab more eyeballs than it should have. Good for Lawrence. Not for us (the viewer).

Originally titled ‘Laxmi Bomb’, the makers met with backlash due to the word ‘bomb’ after a Hindu deity’s name. The film itself doesn’t justify neither the original title, nor the current. Because ‘Laxmii’ doesn’t actually appear until after a ridiculously slow one hour of the runtime! Instead we have to suffer a model-like Kiara Advani who plays Rashmi and cannot act to engage the viewer at all. What’s worse – Kiara’s acting skills (or the lack of it) seem to have rubbed off on Akshay Kumar who plays both the titular lead & Asif a Muslim businessman who is married to the Hindu Rashmi.

Asif and Rashmi visit her parents for the first time, hoping they would finally be accepted, but instead find themselves grappling with supernatural spirits that are bloodthirsty for revenge. Asif is possessed by the spirit of Laxmii, a transgender woman who was murdered. Akshay Kumar does a better job at playing a possessed woman that a regular guy. He gets certain nuances of Laxmii right and is able to tickle the viewers with his effeminate transformation. However, least 30 minutes of the entire film looks like a government ad for social causes, with Akshay Kumar delivering preachy messages on superstitions, blind beliefs and gender discrimination. Some of his dialogues are like he is breaking the fourth wall and directly talking to his audience, telling them “hey guys, this is stupid”.

Which brings me to all the non-sensical stupidity that is passed of in the name of comedy. Raghava Lawrence uses dialogues and exaggerated sequences that are typical to Tamil/Telugu comedies, but just doesn’t work in a Bollywood film. It could be that the regional actors are able to pull of the theater style better, but most of the Bollywood cast is just not able to nail it.

A lot of the blame should go on the shoddy script-writing team that has penned stuff that might have sounded okay on paper and absurd when mouthed in front of the camera. In the middle of the film, there were some funny moments that got loud laughs out of me, but that doesn’t compensate for the largely bland content. The secondary cast that comes into the film in the second half is a LOT BETTER than the primary cast. Sharad Kelkar who plays Laxmi during the flashback was un-recognizable and portrays the transgender woman with a lot of heart. It’s too bad that the real Laxmii gets very little screen-time.

The most disappointing bit about the film was that there is minimal horror and it’s not scary at all. In the entire 2 hour 21 minutes, there is not one good horror sequence. Perhaps Lawrence should’ve hired a lesser known/paid actors for some of the main roles, like he could’ve used a new face instead of Kiara Advani and then save some money that could have been used for better graphics. The CGI was so bad that ‘Laxmii’ that is briefly reminded me of the 2002 horror flick ‘Jaani Dushman’. Bollywood horror movie enthusiasts will know what I mean. One can only be glad that they have the option to press the fast-forward button with ‘Laxmii’, if you choose to watch it from home.

The Walking Dead Vol. 1 Review

Someone gifted me “The Walking Dead” volume 4 a few years ago. So I’ve finally caught up with volume 1, which follows cop Rick Grimes’ misadventures into a Zombie infested America.

Writer Robert Kirkman’s introduction to the series was befitting start to the zombie world, since it helps the viewer understand the creator’s perspective.

“To me, the best zombie movies aren’t the splatter fests of gore and violence with goofy characters and tongue in cheek antics. Good zombie movies show us how messed up we are, they make us question our station in society…”

Kirman says and delivers us just that through the series.

It all starts with Rick Grimes waking up from a coma in what looks like an abandoned hospital. Baffled that there’s nobody around, he tries to get out of the building only to be met with strange, horrifying looking creatures that cannot communicate. It doesn’t take him too long to find the truth and now his only quest is to find his wife and kid who he believes must have headed to Atlanta.

Just like Rick, the reader too eases in to the grim reality of a world that’s no longer normal. Robert Kirkman’s kick-ass story-telling combined with Tony Moore’s incredible inks, has the reader hooked to every page (obviously). The art-work is so graphic and good that it doesn’t even need a live action series to bring it to life. Although now I am definitely curious about the American TV adaptation of this series which is available on Netflix.

Once I was done reading volume one, I was just appalled at how there are so many more volumes to read and how I haven’t read them yet! On the bright side – there is a lot more to look forward to!

A fabulous five on five star from me. No complains.