Sundari Venkatraman's Blog, page 55

Film Review: DAAWAT-E-ISHQ

It’s worth a see if you like romances

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher, Karan Wahi
Director: Habib Faisal

I had been quite impressed by the promos of Daawat-e-Ishq and was keen to watch the film. Then there is the hero Aditya Roy Kapoor who is too hot for words. So Vinny and I decided to catch it on Saturday at Big Cinemas in R-City Mall , Ghatkopar as the rest of the family weren’t too keen.

THE STORY

Gulrez (Parineeti Chopra) lives with her father (Anupam Kher) in Hyderabad. She has completed her 12th standard topping her class. Unable to pursue her dreams of becoming a shoe designer, Gullu settles for working in a shoe outlet at a shopping mall. Her court clerk father has saved some gold and cash to be given as dowry for his only child. Many guys come to ‘see’ Gullu as a prospective bride along with their families but reject her because they find a dowry of cash and kind worth Rs. 15 lakh too less.

The final straw is when Gullu begins to date Amjad (Karan Wahi) and is confident that he loves her. When his parents meet her father, they insist that they need only Rs. 80 lakh to fund his education in the USA and nothing personal.

That’s when Gullu decides to take things into her own hands. She persuades her father to go with her to Lucknow. They stay at a 5-star hotel pretending to be millionaires from Dubai. They have a plan to find a ‘bakra’ for a groom. Watch the film to find out more.

MY PERCEPTION

The film has a good storyline and is quite interesting as it runs for just a couple of hours. Parineeti Chopra looks good and acts very well. It was very satisfying the way her character deals with the greedy prospective grooms and their parents, especially Amjad (Karan Wahi).

Anupam Kher as her father is just excellent. The widower loves his child but is too steeped in tradition to quite understand her behaviour. Despite all that, he is open to listening to her. Good one!

Aditya Roy Kapoor is too hot and does complete justice to his role as Tariq aka Taru. After seeing him in two different drunken roles (one was good while the other was very so-so) in Aashiqui 2 & Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani , I didn’t know quite what to expect. But he was simply awesome in this film. Kudos! My only peeve is that there was too less of ARK.

The promos were pretty misleading. I had had the impression that the film was about two foodies from Hyderabad and Lucknow. It’s nothing like that. While Tariq runs a restaurant and is a great cook, there was nothing else to it.

While the story was good, I wish it had been handled better. There was very good detailing with Gullu’s prospective grooms. But later, when Gullu and Taru get to know each other, the sequence flashes by too briefly via a song. That could have been explored more, I feel.

VERDICT: It’s worth a see if you like romances; nothing to feel upset about if you miss it either.




*Silly**Shaky***Smart****Snazzy*****Super

Blog Tour: SPOTLIGHT for RAPID FALL by Adiana Ray

Rapid Fall
by Adiana Ray



The Blurb  Sonia and JD’s tempestuous attraction is as stormy as the rapids at Rishikesh. Not even a dip in icy waters can douse the sparks that fly when they are around each other.

JD’s recent divorce, however, has left him commitment phobic and bitter, and he doesn’t seem to want more than a physical relationship. At heart, Sonia is conservative; can she bring herself to accept a modern ‘live-in’ relationship, or will she push him away with her demands for a commitment?
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Watch It 





Meet the Author


The Author's Thoughts
'Sixteen and counting' are the number of cities that I have lived in so far. I like to think of myself as a 'Metronaut'. The myriad city cultures, the food, the hustle and bustle, the people are all elements of life that I thrive on and if you can have an 'Astronaut' why not a 'Metronaut' after all there are so many more of us out there?
I believe in the Zen tenet that every situation has a 1000 truths. It helps me write and it definitely helps when I am dealing with my two children. I like reading, I like cooking, I like travelling and I love sitting like a mindless zombie in front of the TV and if anybody says anything to that....Aha! a 1000 truths come in very handy.
I also write under a pen name M.X Steele. Why? My daughter thought Adiana Ray was too boring a name.
I do hope you enjoy reading all my work because I believe passionately that though we writers love pontificating and are totally in love with whatever we write; at the end of it all it is the readers that matter and above all what we write has to be 'entertaining'.



You can stalk her @                                             


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Blog Tour: RUBINA RAMESH reviews MEGHNA

Rubina RameshIt was a blessed day when I met Rubina Ramesh on social media a little more than a year ago. She has been a friend, guide, philosopher and a lot more to me. If I am a self-published author who is also successful today, I will give full credit to Rubina. She’s like a Tornado who works 24/7.

Blog Tour of Meghna – my third one with The Book Club – has been super successful thanks to Rubina and her team. Yes, Meghna’s been on the Amazon Contemporary Romance eBooks lists pretty often over the past few weeks.

Rubina Ramesh has reviewed Meghna while I got an opportunity to write a Guest Post on her blog. Thank you so much Rubina for that awesome review (I promise you guys that you will roll on the floor laughing when you read this hilarious piece) and letting me answer a question (through a Guest Post) that been running on many readers’ minds when they read Meghna.

About Rubina Ramesh (Courtesy: http://nanowrimo.org):

I read, if possible, every moment of my waking life. Even while cooking I have audible books plugged into my ears. I am an Arts graduate with an MBA, but the thought of staying put in an office environment never appealed to me. I had a few stints of work life at Aptech and StarSQL. My friends and family call me a gypsy. Thankfully my husband's line of work allows us to travel all over the globe. 

Though I have been writing for a long time, I have only one short story published in an anthology. When I was 12, I had sent an article to Women's Era and it was rejected. I never sent one out again. But the Blogging world gave me a new confidence and after I started my own blog for promoting new authors and book reviews, the bug of writing bit me again and I picked up my pen again (literally). I have a strong belief “Every writer has a story to tell”. I hope I will be able to tell the stories that are made for me. 

Rubina Ramesh reviews Meghna:

Sundari: "Ok Rubina, cut the crap! Did you like the story or not?"
Gulp Gulp
Rubina: (whispers) "I hate you ..."
Sundari: shocked!
Rubina: "Then what, you write such simple stories. Putting lives into the characters, taken from people you know in real life. Simplicity is your poison, Sundari. Some will love it and some won't. But those who do will come back for more and more and more and..."
Sundari: "So this book will sell or not?
Rubina: "It has been on the bestseller list..."
Sundari: I rest my case :D

Click Here to read the complete review.

My Guest Post on Rubina’s blog:

Q: Sundari, you have a lip-lock situation in your story. How do you think our Indian audience will react to the lip-lock of a 16-year-old in your story? Do you think it is too bold for our Indian audience - especially the middle class society?

Guest Post: I attended a course on mothering at the Oneness University. It was truly an eye opener. The guide - a monk - taught me a number of truths about myself.

I realised that the tendency of an adult is to forget her own childhood days while handling her kid. My daughter was about seven years old at that point and I was highly troubled that she was a rebel. I had completely forgotten that I had been one myself as a kid. I was amazed when Akshayamati gently made me recall my tantrums as a child. After that, handling my daughter was almost a breeze.

Click Here to read the rest of the post.

Blog Tour: BHAVYA NANDAKUMAR reviews MEGHNA

Bhavya NandakumarI got to meet Bhavya Nandakumar through The Book Club and I must say I am glad that she’s a regular reader of my books. Thank you so much Bhavya for that wonderful review along with a Spotlight of Meghna and also letting me write a Guest Post on your blog about Self-publishing.

About Bhavya:

Bhavya Nandakumar works for an online advertising business while writing on her blog that gives her a sense of freedom.

Bhavya Nandakumar reviews Meghna:

Meghna, by Sundari Venkatraman is probably as Bollywood as it gets. The author begins by stating that her book is for entertainment purposes alone yet it does so much more than that.

Click Here to read the complete review on Bhavya’s blog.

My Guest Post on Bhavya’s blog:

The advantages of self-publishing are that there’s no need to wait for the verdict of a publishing house and no Editorial Guidelines that at times tend to turn one’s novel completely topsy-turvy. The best part is the fantastic percentage of royalty.

On the downside, you have to get your own editor and proof-reader; you have to get the cover done from an artist (there’s a lot of back and forth in that) and there’s no publisher backup for marketing.

Click Here to read the complete post.

Cover Reveal: THE RUNAWAY BRIDEGROOM by Sundari Venkatraman

Cover Reveal: THE RUNAWAY BRIDEGROOM by Sundari Venkatraman


Sneak Peek
     Chanda Maheshwari’s family is shaken when her thirteen-year-old bridegroom Veerendra runs away immediately after the wedding. The eight-year-old child doesn’t even understand the impact on her life. Unable to face their neighbours and friends, the Maheshwaris move from their village to Jaipur and begin a new life in the city.     Fourteen years later, Chanda is studying in a Delhi College. She takes up a temporary job at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. and falls head-over-heels for the boss of the operation. But what about  Ranveer Singh? Is he interested in her?     Ranveer’s secretary Shikha is desperate to make him fall for her. All she wants is life-long security with a rich man. But it’s nerd Abhimanyu who keeps getting in the way. Abhi is Ranveer’s second-in-command and Shikha isn’t keen on him as she’s eyeing the main chance.      When Ranveer appears to show interest in Chanda, she’s faced with a new problem. Astrologer Vidyasagar insists that she would get back with her husband Veerendra. Does anyone want to know if she wants to do that?      Chanda feels torn between the man she has fallen for and the family values that have been instilled in her. Will she ever find happiness? 


About the AuthorEven as a kid, Sundari Venkatraman absolutely loved the 'lived happily ever after' syndrome as she grew up reading all the fairy tales she could lay her hands on, Phantom comics, Mandrake comics and the like. It was always about good triumphing over evil and a happy end. Soon, into her teens, she switched her attention from fairy tales to Mills & Boon. While she loved reading both of these, she kept visualising what would have happened if there were similar situations happening in India; to a local hero and heroine.


Her imagination took flight and she always lived in a rosy cocoon of romance over the years. Then came the writing - a true bolt out of the blue! She could never string two sentences together. While her spoken English had always been excellent - thanks to her Grandpa - she could not write to save her life. She was bad at writing essays in both school and college. Later, when it was time to teach her kids, she could manage everything from Science to Mathematics and History & Geography.
When it came to writing compositions, her kids found her of no help at all. All this changed suddenly one fine day in the year 2000. She had just quit her job at a school's office and did not know what to do with her life. She was saturated with simply reading books. That's when she got home one evening after her walk and took some sheets of paper and began writing. It was like watching a movie that was running in her head - all those years of visualising Indian heroes and heroines needed an outlet and had to be put into words. That's how her first novel, The Malhotra Bride, took shape.
While she felt discouraged when publishing did not happen, it was her husband who kept encouraging her not to give up. There was no looking back after that. While publishing took a long time happening, Sundari continued to write novels and then short stories. Her luck turned when Indireads approached her to write for them and Double Jeopardy was born.Now it’s all about self-publishing her books on Amazon. Her first self-published book is The Malhotra Bride (2nd Edition) in February 2014. Then came Meghna in June 2014. And now it's time to unveil The Runaway Bridegroom, all set to release on September 13, 2014.
Are you ready????????????

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Blog Tour: DEVIKA FERNANDO reviews MEGHNA

Devika FernandoI  met Devika Fernando, who is also an author of romances, on social media. Later on, Devika joined The Book Club and regularly participates in our Blog Tours. Based in Sri Lanka, Devika has two published books to her name – When I See Your Face & Playing With Fire .

About Devika:

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark is writing sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

Devika Fernando came forward to read and review my book Meghna. Not just that, she did an author interview as well. THANK YOU so much Devika. I am glad you liked my book and I thoroughly enjoyed answering your thought provoking questions!

Devika Fernando reviews Meghna:

“Meghna” by Sundari Venkatraman is much more than the author so humbly proclaims. It IS filled to the brim with entertainment, reminding me so much of the Hindi dramas and Bollywood movies I like to watch. It does, however, also contain hidden lessons for life.

Click Here to read the entire review of Meghna

Devika Fernando interviews me:

Q: What do you like most and least about being a writer?

A: What I like most is the thought of playing God; create characters and make them dance to my tunes. I just love it. I feel a powerful sense of freedom that their lives will work out the way I want and not like reality (where a lot of negativity happens). This is also probably the reason why I love penning romances. I can’t think of anything I don’t like about being a writer.

Click Here to check out the complete interview

Blog Tour: ARTI METROREADER reviews MEGHNA

Arti MetroreaderI met Arti Metroreader on facebook and later connected with her via The Book Club. While Arti has bought all my books and reviewed them, she also came forward to do an Author Interview with me for promoting Meghna as well as she gave me an opportunity to write a Guest Post on her blog. Thank you Arti for helping with the promotion of my book! 

About Arti Metroreader:

“Arti is a doctor by profession and mother of two small children. She loves reading books, especially romances. She’s reviewed a large number of romances on her blog. She has also interviewed a number of authors on her blog.”

Excerpt from Arti’s review:

As with all Sundari Venkatraman books, the plot is simple, the story is sweet and the characters loveable. Meghna’s family is a typical Indian middle class close knit family with a brother, bhabhi and kids. The easy camaraderie between the characters has been beautifully depicted. The relationship of Sasha and Rehaan has been depicted very well.

Click Here to read the complete review

Excerpt from Arti’s interview:

Q: I know it is difficult for an author to choose between her books, but which of the three is closer to your heart?

A: First of all, I would like to make it very clear that I love all my books. There are more than three, by the way. If you insist on my choosing, then I would say The Malhotra Bride as it is my first book. The book amazed me as I penned it as I never could believe that I was capable of writing before this one was born.

Click Here to read the complete interview

Excerpt from Arti’s Guest Post:

I visualise my characters a lot before I create them in words. I see them walk, talk, dress, check them out in different moods and more. I see them interact with one another. I logically think of how a person would react in a particular situation.

Click Here to read the Guest Post

Blog Tour: SPOTLIGHT of WHERE EVEN PRESENT IS ANCIENT: BENARAS by Maitreyee B. Chowdhury

The Blurb

Where Even the Present is Ancient: Benaras is a book that seeks to tell the little stories that make us who we are. The author believes that Benaras resides in all of us Indians, in some beautiful often-unknown way. The author is the Sutradhar, in that she attempts to connect an India that many do not realize exists, in that it is everybody’s story. Radha, Krishna, Ganga, Benaras and Me are all characters in this deluge of poems. This attempt at telling the story of the ancient, of love and of faith is to instil the confidence that poetry exists in all of us, everywhere, all that is needed is to smell its fragrance. To those outside India, the book does not seek to be a representation of what India is or was, but a whiff of what it also can be. It is an attempt to ask people to see the little stories that govern all of our lives, stories that we often don’t see, but those that are important. The audience for this book might be strewn across the globe, for faith is not religion-centric, it is people- centric and often without dimensions. In poetry there is no beginning, no middle, nor no end. Like faith it is everywhere, it is omnipresent. The book affords no answers, nor no questions, but if you listen and read carefully you will see new things, a new beauty perhaps, one that has been silent so long.


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About the Author
 


Maitreyee B Chowdhury is a web columnist and creative writer. She is author of Reflections on My India, a book of Indian traditions and spirituality in parts. Maitreyee is also author of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen- Bengali Cinema’s First Couple and Ichhe Holo Tai, a bilingual muti media presentation of poetry. Maitreyee is featured amongst other Indian writers such as Gulzar, Shashi Tharoor and Deepti Naval in an anthology of Indian writers Celebrating India.


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Guest Post: ADITE BANERJIE on ALPHA VS BETA HEROES

Adite Banerjie is the author of two best-selling Harlequin Mills & Boon romances. I had a question for her and she has answered it on this guest post. Check out what she has to say about creating a male protagonist. 

Adite, you have two published books to your credit. Both your heroes are alpha males. Please share your thoughts on creating a Beta male. I hear that they are getting quite popular these days.

Hi Sundari! Thanks for your question about creating Alpha Vs Beta Heroes. 

When I was writing Book #1 (The Indian Tycoon’s Marriage Deal) I was obsessed with creating an Alpha hero--the tall, dark and handsome heroes who were arrogant, independent, all-powerful and protective. They had the world at their feet and which heroine could resist their potent charm?  As Annie West, romance author explains: “The Alpha Hero will stand by the Heroine when she needs him, he will be a loving, loyal partner. And if the road to happiness is a little rocky to begin with, all the better. After all, we want our romances with a little spice, don’t we?”

But I ran into a bit of a problem while creating the typical—some would call it stereotypical!—Alpha  Hero. My book was targeted at an Indian audience. And no matter how ‘alpha’, an Indian Hero would value family over independence.  His loyalties with the Heroine would to a certain degree be shared by his responsibility for his family. A trait that would be easier to find in a Beta Hero. So Krish Dev in The Indian Tycoon definitely had a bit of beta in him. 

A Beta Hero is one who is more of a follower than a leader. He is more self-aware, more sociable than the reclusive Alpha; harbours self-doubt whereas the Alpha is supremely self-confident. The Beta’s most endearing quality is his sense of humour.  In my second book, Trouble Has a New Name, the Hero, Neel, starts off as a typical, arrogant Alpha-type but as the book progresses, we get to see his Beta like qualities: his insecurities, his self-awareness, his quirky sense of humour.  

Ultimately it’s for every author to decide how alpha or beta your hero is. As Nicola Marsh, a veteran of many romances, says, “Your hero will be unique. He may turn out to be more Beta than Alpha or vice-versa. Whatever you do, make your man the sexiest hero possible, the kind of guy we can't close the pages on until the last, satisfying scene.”

Thank you so much Adite Banerjie for sharing your thoughts with my blog audience.

Blog Tour: BEGINNING WITH FOREVER by Lan LLP

Tour Schedule

Title and Author: Beginning with Forever by Lan LLP
Publication Date: March 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance


~Synopsis~ Love isn't easy to forget even if you’re determined to never feel it again. It has a way of finding you when all hope is gone, resurfacing tender emotions you've buried deep in your core because the pain of acknowledging them is too much for you to handle.

Carson Bradley, CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical corporation is rich beyond boundaries with a missing soul. His heart faded away fifteen years ago with the death of his first love.He strives every day for the sake of his cancer research because he’s determined to eradicate it forever.
Lillian Ly is a humble, young medical student whose kind and generous heart is as vast as the universe. Being raised poor by a single parent; she matured quickly and respected the sacrifices her mother made for her. Lillian’s determination leads her down a stringent five-year path with no room for love.When their paths cross at an unlikely place thousands of miles away from home, they both realize that fate has brought them together, and Carson will never let anything or anyone tear them apart. He knows how desolate life is without love and refuses to return to that empty
Lillian enters Carson’s world with the purest intention of loving him with all her heart, but discovers that his volatile world will alter her uncomplicated life indefinitely. Regardless of what obstacles are thrown in their path, Lillian and Carson will endure them all to hold onto their forever from the beginning to the end.




~Excerpt~
“Carson, I’m freely offering myself to you right now. Please.” I plead fearlessly. I’m shameless and not above begging for him to take my body. Who is this sex-craved woman anyways?

     “Sweetness, you’re making it very difficult for me to resist you, to control myself.” He lowers himself intimately close to graze his soft, moist lips on my forehead, bridge of my nose and then intensely over my lips. The urgency of his need for me is translated through his kisses. Biting down firmly on his lower lip, it appears that he’s forcing the strength of his will to remain tame. Our eye contact is broken when he seals his shut to blind the temptation lying beneath his body. His hands grip the sheets desperately, clawing and then fisting. I think this is his last hope of hanging onto his dignity. “Goodnight Lily, only offer your body to me when you believe it in your heart,” he murmurs and rolls off me.


~Meet the Cast~

Buy From: Amazon.com: Kindle Ebook | PaperbackAmazon.in: Kindle Ebook

~Carson & Lillian~


~Meet The Author~ Over a long year ago, I picked up a pen to jot down the first sentence of my vivid imagination. Those initial words were the seeds that grew into my flowering romance book, “Beginning with Forever.” With all my heart, I wrote, rewrote, edited, re-edited and now, I’m finally ready to share it with all of you. My one and only aspiration for this book is to have readers embrace my story and characters with their heart.If I can make someone laugh till their gut hurts, hate the villain with vengeance, cry till their eyes dry out, fall in love all over again, and drool over the hero or feel any other emotions, than I've succeeded my goal.
I’m the sappiest person in the world when it comes to romance. Don’t smirk! I believe in love at first sight, Prince Charming or in my book,Mr. Hot Billionaire, and happy endings. In my heart, every women deserves all three, and they will when they lose themselves in my books. Your fantasy can become a reality with just the flip of a page, so come join me.

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