The Forgotten Army: A Review

The Forgotten Army

Season 1 (2020)

Amazon Prime

Genre – Historial, Period, War, Drama

Director – Kabir Khan

Actors – Sunny Kaushal, Karanvir Malhotra, Sharvari and many more

Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Army is a gracious tribute to the first men in uniform who fought for India’s liberation. Kabir Khan takes a mammoth task of re-creating armed independence movement of India amidst the uptight situation of second world war. Shyam Benegal’s The Forgotten Hero focused on Subhas Chandra’s life and his role as the supreme leader of INA, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Rangoon touched upon few facets of INA struggle but there was hardly any attempt to tell the tale from soldier’s pov and rather than from the perspective of a British Indian soldier. Thus, it is a noble tale of honour, bravery, courage and sacrifice.

Sunny Kaushal as the dynamic, logical and passionate Captain Sodhi shines like a bright star in the web-series. Karanvir Malhotra as the aged Captain Sodhi soothes the audience with a calm, cool and broken avatar of a war hero. The horrors of war have been nicely crafted in the screenplay, Malhotra does justice to the role. Sharvari as Maya has done a very good job. The acting department is one of the strongest parts of The Forgotten Army.

The screenplay lacks the pace in few places since it dilutes itself with pop patriotism. The love angle between the lead pairs could have been maturely handled and it demanded less focus over here.

Apart from acting, one of the striking features of the show is the historical authenticity. Kabir Khan did a brilliant job of stringing various facets of second world war, INA war into the screenplay and the historians won’t complain about it. The VFX and cinematography looked highly polished and never over the top. The aerial shots looked promising, it was a delight to watch.

SRK’s voiceover was simple yet organic, it was a necessary evil as most of INA’s history is not a part of history textbooks in India, forget the world.

The show reveals few interesting points like England has got a war memorial for the animals slain in World War but not the Indians. The bigot nature of Britishers while recruiting Indian soldiers and thus creating a bias among the so-called warrior castes like Pathans, Rajputs with the others. The Forgotten Army brings into limelight about the creation of first women regiment in a modern army, The Rani Laxmibai Brigade of INA. It could have been left loose over there, but it was stretched too much.

The show is well-researched, well-acted, well shot. Go for it. I would suggest watching it on laptop/pc rather than on the mobile screen.

Pros

Well-researched and historical accuracy

Brilliant acting, production design and makeup

The chemistry between Sodhi and Arshad, genuinely well crafted

Pritam’s background score acts a character, plus point

The cinematography, voice-over, well-edited.

It keeps a neutral side showcasing the atrocities of both Britishers and Japnese on the natives of Singapore.

Beautiful climax and juxtaposition with the modern-day situation in Myanmar

Cons

The love story could have been cut short

The bluebird as the metaphor or the guiding light, kill me.

 

Ratings – 3.5/5 and love for the brave attempt.

The Clockmaker; A Book Review

The Clockmaker

Genre – Psychological Thriller

Jungle Series I

Author- Paromita Goswami

 Blurb

Can you change destiny? What if you can?
Ashish, a passionate clockmaker is frustrated with his life – financial insecurity, his ongoing nightmares and his family, wife Lata and son Vicky, are driving him crazy.
Lata is having a tough time in life with her arch-rival, Rashmi. Vicky wants to be a biker than rather join the family legacy of the clockmaker. He also has a crush on Kavya who is more interested in supporting her family than romancing around.
Lately, Ashish starts hallucinating things. The black hooded man, who traumatizes him in the nightmares, warns him of dire consequences if he doesn’t return the timepiece that was given to Ashish by his father at his deathbed. Burdened with despair, Ashish wishes he could change his destiny and end all his miseries. By sheer chance, he discovers the power of the timepiece. Ashish was still figuring out what to do with it when an incident shatters his life completely. Without second thoughts he uses the power of the timepiece to change his destiny. But, can he really change it?
Amid the chaos of the busy by-lanes of the East Delhi unfolds a paranormal, supernatural, Indian drama that will leave you thrilled.
The Jungle Series – Get ready to be assaulted!

The Book Review

Paromita Goswami intends to create an eerie atmosphere in the first book of the Jungle Series. She does it effortlessly. She does not indulge in composing confusing literary jargons, rather she takes the reader straight into the jungle of consciousness, past, present and darkness.

The character build up is really up to the mark, whether it is the marital discord, domestic tussle or extra-marital bliss – Ashish is a steady winner in the section. And then, we have the character in the hood, it scares the shit out of you. Goswami takes her own time to weave the emotional bond(s), the helplessness and the troubled psyche of the characters. No artificial infusion of heroism, simple treatment and thank God, the language is really straightforward.

The prologue is definitely a clear winner in the book. I could literally experience the sweat buds on Babuji’s forehead, while reading it. One of the most interesting stuff(s) apart from creating a paranormal atmosphere, prologue and character build up among others is the narrative technique. The usage the third person narrative with the feel of episodic revealing of the intricate details hits you hard, and it opens up like a blooming hibiscus, beauty in the end.

And yes, the clock is not only an object, it is a character.

The theme is good, the climax is wow. What else do you need ?

Rise up and get the book.

Tip : Read it after dinner, when everyone is asleep.

 

N.B : TICKTOCK, TICKTOCK….sssh that is the sound of the  clock

Pros

The spooky mood

The character build-up

Easy flow of narration, episodic nature

Brilliant thrills

Cons

Length, could have been chopped a bit.

Verdict – Have it, Ashish is tensed..Help him…

About the Author

Paromita Goswami is a writer and storyteller by passion and a rebel by choice. She says the world is full of stories and as a writer she loves to pen them down. Her work is not genre specific. From literary fiction to children book to paranormal thriller and women fiction, Paromita Goswami‘s books offer the variety of life to her readers. Besides writing, she is also the founder of a reading club that enhances book reading habit in children. She lives in central India with her family.

 

 

Soulmate; A Film Review

CAST

SUDIP MUKHERJEE

PRATYUSHA

SANJEEV GHOSH

TECHS

STORY TANMOY DE

SCREENPLAY MAUSHUMI MUKHERJEE

STILLS PRANTIKA MAJUMDER

MAKE-UP SABUJ POYRA

PROMOTION ANIKET RAY CHOWDHURY

DRONE OPERATOR MD. SAN
CINEMATOGRAPHY BAPPA DASGUPTA

EDITING TAMAL CHAKRABORTY
DIRECTED BY ARIJIT MUKHERJEE

LYRIC, COMPOSITION, MUSIC ARRANGEMENT,
RECORDING & MIXING, PLAYBACK & BGM BY

SAUVANIK DUTTA

PRODUCED BY

ARIJIT OFFICIAL

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

SHAIKH PRODUCTION HOUSE

Soulmate is a brave attempt to study  modern day relationship(s) in the backdrop of  urban India. Thus, do not expect mushy gushy romance, full of goon fights among other ingredients of teen romance stories. Instead we have two grown up individuals engaging themselves in heart-to-heart conversation at a place, which is away from the speedy life of Indian metros. Soulmate brings you near to the stark reality of life, unravels hidden past thus provides few great moments of cinematic thrills.

Sudip Mukherjee and Pratyusha plays the lead roles of two individuals enjoying some great time in and around the cozy beaches of Mandarmani. Both of them are effortless and it is widely appreciable on the screen. Sudip Mukherjee’s baritone voice added up to his on-screen personality, good to see him after a long time. Pratyusha is a completely different person over here, in the last film she was a troubled alienated housewife and over here, well find it out by yourself. Arijit Mukherjee is growing in a steady manner as a story-teller. This one looked like a commercial movie, but he keeps it very near to the ground. The balance is really nice over here. The backdrop of sunny beach provides visual delight, so does the background score. Cinematography has been smartly handled by Bappa Dasgupta. The editing has been very crispy, well it is a fine piece of work. The lead pairs steals away the acting spotlight from all the characters, simply overshadows them.

Pros

Relatable storyline.

Stunning screen presence by the lead pairs.

Excellent cinematography .

Matured way of storytelling by the director.

Cons

 Supporting cast were overshadowed, but no complain about their acting capabilities.

(I am no one to judge)

Length could have been shortened a bit.

Verdict : Have fun while watching it, it works like Bourbon Whiskey.

Images : With the permission of the director

Soulmate Movie

check out the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUX_os6sPdI&feature=youtu.be

Chernobyl : Hard-Hitting & Disturbing

Chernobyl (2019) Mini-series

Available on HOT STAR

Creator- Craig Mazin

Based on Voices from Chernobyl (1997) by Svetlana Alexievich

Director- Johan Renck

Genre- Historical drama, Political, there is horror too

Actors – Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Paul Ritter and many more

2019 has been an exciting year for HBO. First, the hype regarding Game of Thrones, the subsequent fall from grace and they needed a saviour to rescue them.

Chernobyl (2019) is the saviour that HBO hoped for and I guess it has delivered the craft with near perfection.

First of all, the makers deserve kudos for choosing such a controversial subject, researching extensively and finally drafting a classic script. The screenplay could have been more layered since the viewers never come across the reaction of the World and also the people in and around Chernobyl. This is the only place, where it falters mildly.

these two are the strongest pillars of the show, the way their relationship works…it is wonderful

Now, the three major characters Professor Legasov, Commander Boris and Kimchuk essayed by Jared Harris, Stellan Skasgard, Emily Watson respectively deserves applause for their realistic portrayal(s) throughout the five episodes. The screenplay keeps you busy and curious at the same time. Dyatlov essayed by Paul Ritter resembles the cranky corporate bosses and believe me, I wanted to punch him hard, well that is the brilliance of textbook acting.

most disturbing stuff, the big guy is teaching the young one to kill the pets, since they are already under the effect of radiation

 

The background score is awesomely eerie and runs a chill down the spine. The series remains extremely faithful to the historical facts and that is where Chernobyl wins. The production design, the resemblance of the characters with the actual figures, the dialect and lastly the cinematography remains so natural and realistic that the viewer might feel that they are having a conversation with them in Soviet Russia. I would like to mention the brilliant usage of make-up for the patients in Moscow, it irritates and draws sympathy. Please watch this one, you might regret missing this beauty by John Renck.

In the end, Chernobyl remains one of the most perfectly crafted series by HBO after Band of Brother. It draws a conclusion, State is the enemy of the man and Socialism is evil (my point of view).

One word, Fuck you. Dyatlov – the villain to remember

 

Warning – This series will disturb your conscience and make you question about the values, morals and ethics.

Pros

The casting, the acting.

The make-up of the Chernobyl victims.

The squad assigned to kill the pets, the scenes were tragic.

The haunting background score.

The sound of the dosimeter throughout the narration.

The minimal usage of VFX.

The conversation between the minister of coal and the coal miners.

Minister of Coal amidst his people..

And now we know how a nuclear reactor works.

The courtroom scene in the end.

this guy, Harris and this scene,well  do check

Cons

Misses out the OTHER  point of views.

Ratings – 9.5/10

 

Disclaimer – The images has been taken from the internet.

Rony 2, A Movie Review

Genre : Drama, Social

Length : 27 mins

Country : India

Language : Bengali, Hindi, English

CAST:-

Sweta Tewari, Vineet Goel, Om, Soham Laskar, Shaan Chakraborty, Sandip Sarkar,Rupsha

TECHS:

STORY: TANMOY DE

SCREENPLAY: MAUSHUMI MUKHERJEE

PRODUCTION MANAGER: MUKTI PADA MONDAL

CINEMATOGRAPHER: ARUN SARKAR

EDITING, GRAPHICS & PROMOTION: ANIKET

SONG BY: POULUMI GANGULY

DIRECTION: ARIJIT MUKHERJEE

The Review

One tends to be choosy about friends, food, books and films. Thus, less number of film reviews on my blog. If I am not impressed with the movie, I won’t review it. So, you can understand that I liked the movie. Rony 2 is a noble attempt in terms of its story and the sociological angle. While the last instalment dealt with the aspect of loneliness in urban areas like Kolkata, Rony 2 dives further ahead. Om, the little guy essaying the titular role of Rony amazes me once again. The last review was about your calibre and you have done it once again over here. Sweta Tiwari, who essays the role of Rony’s mother is a surprise package. She seems to be very confident with her facial expressions especially when she looks towards the floor and takes her own time to introspect her son’s psyche.

Rony seems to be a very matured individual who wants to donate his materialistic stuff to an orphanage and after visiting the same, he realises the special children over there are hungry for love and attention and there is hardly ant difference between them and Rony. Ah, remember the song by Blue. “One Love is all we need.”

Rony 2 surpasses Rony in terms of technicalities like cinematography, music, background score and direction. Acting and screenplay have always been a strong point in Arijit Mukherjee’s films and they didn’t disappoint. All in all, it is a family movie with a great statement about nuclear families in Metropolitan cities. Above everything, it is an honest attempt to visualise the authentic pen-picture of people who are getting busy with careers and ignoring the warmth of near and dear ones.

Rating – 8/10

Pros

A feel-good script

Crisp screenplay and editing

Great acting by Om, Sweta Tiwari and the guy in the orphanage who paints well.

The sweet camaraderie between Title and Rony

The scene where Rony watches a small child having some nice time the grandmother and Rony feels the emptiness in his life

The shift between Hindi, Bengali and English in the screenplay, that is how an educated Urban Families talk, scream, shout among others.

Cons

Rony needed more silence in a few scenes, rather than dialogues which could have been avoided.

Watch it

Disclaimer – This is an official review and I have received the photographs from the director.

Made in Heaven : Poetry upon Screen

Web- series : Made in Heaven (2019)

Streaming Platform : Amazon Prime

Genre :       Drama

Written: Reema Kagti, Zoya Akhtar, Alankrita Shrivastava

Story :  Vivek Anchalia

Players :     Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala

Amidst the barbaric machismo of Sacred Games and Mirzapur, Zoya Akhtar gives you brilliant study of relationships, friendships, power, politics and sexuality of postmodern Indian citizens.

Akhtar’s web series Made in Heaven narrates the stories of marriages (read the Great Indian marriages ) in and around Delhi.  Made in Heaven revolves around two wedding planners  Karan Mehra and Tara Khanna and their baby .i.e. Made in Heaven. Arjun Mathur as Karan Mehra dazzles across the series with his struggle and liberation as a homosexual man. I guess, after Jishu Sengupta as the homosexual (ok bisexual choreographer in Ghosh’s Chitrangada) and Manoj Bajpai in Aligarh, Mathur delivers a hard-hitting portrayal. He is not a person who is going to sit back and tolerate non-sense.

Sobhita Dhulipala (essaying Tara Khanna), who was last seen in Raman Raghav 2 gets enough screen time and tries very hard to justify her character. Well, she shines in a few of the sequences especially towards the end, where she discovers the importance of one’s identity, roots. The final fight with her husband, before she leaves the house forever, well great job. Look out for the platonic relationship (ok friendship ) between Tara and Karan.

The girl from Titli, Shivani Raghuvanshi is a fresh breeze of air. If she gets the right project, she is the star to look out for. Shivani as Jazz eats up her co-star’s screen presence in almost every scene in the series. She is an ambitious soul trapped in the body of a lower-middle-class Punjabi family of Delhi. She commits mistakes, sleeps with a guy without any emotions, makes out under the influence of alcohol, steals stuff, beat the shit out of her stoned brother, looks after her family and speaks her mind. Well, that is the young Indian woman who can take care of her own.

Now, the guy from Brahman Naman as the official photographer, Shashank Arora (as Kabir) doesn’t get much of the dialogues, but he reacts brilliantly in almost every scene. His voice-over towards the end of each episode is a thing to cherish.

Made in Heaven provides a tussle between the tradition, individuality, modernism and westernisation. It tackles several issues like homosexuality, infidelity, caste conflict, dowry, impotency, sexual independence, narcotics, power politics and religious extremism among others.

what a brilliant performance…

The narration is brilliant and the moment of reflection between the character’s past and present is a pure delight. The flaws in the characters, the convergence of multiple storylines, the production values, the voice-over towards the end, the background score and crispy editing make this one a highly re-watchable series.

Muaah, thanks for showing the authentic sides of Delhi

Ratings – 9/10

Pros

Layered and multiple story lines

Excellent character build-up

Aesthetically executed love scenes

Usage of  the Qawali “ Aye re Sakhi more Piya Ghar Aaye “

The loyalty of friendship between Tara and Karan

Vinay Pathak as the peeping and helpless landlord leaves a mark

Cons

Kalki Koelchin is repeating herself.

Jim Sarbh, sorry.

Kabir’s origin  remains unexplored

Disclaimer – Images from the internet.

Enjoy the trailer

Sweta Samota’s Nine ; The Book Review

Nine: A Gripping Tale of Ila Sharma, The Number Girl (Romance and Mystery)

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 2126 KB

Print Length: 293 pages

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

Sold by: Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings Private Limited

Language: English

ASIN: B07KWDLLZG

Blurb

“Nine” is a powerful read that tugs at the heartstrings.

A powerfully moving story!

A mix of Dan Brown and Nicholas Sparks is what Sweta delivers… And what a smashing hit!

What happens when situations put you against yourself and the world is at stake?
National puzzle champ, Ila Sharma, finds herself in trouble when she joins a college in the new city of Pune with an undercover agent by her side.

With her photo flashed in the media, she is sought after by the notorious gang headed by Danny. He forces her to solve a series of codes, that were coded by a brilliant IPS officer Manu Mukundi Lal who was the national security adviser to the Prime Minister of India.

She is caught in an accelerating quest to unveil a thousand years old powerful secret.
And with the three scientists going missing, she is on the radar by the Indian Intelligence.
Still reeling from the events back home, Ila is not sure if she can trust the man she loves.

As layers unfold, as she puts the pieces of jigsaw together, her personal life shatters bit by bit.

As she begins to decode the bizarre numbers, she is stunned to find a trail that leads to the Prime Minister of India and never-before-seen revelations lead her to a single inconceivable truth.

There is more to the world than meets the eye!
Read on as you travel through a saga of love and ambition, history and ideologies.
A blend of love, history, crime and fantasy.

 

` Review

Gripping Goosebumps

Sweta Samota takes some time to build up the suspense and she provides almost equal time to unwrap the mystery.  There are some classified stuff, few encrypted puzzles ( read code)  and there is Ila.

Ila, shines like the beauty with the brain who is studying in Pune. Well, there is an undercover agent also, and in order to find out the identity, grab a copy. I enjoyed the narrative structure which never loses the pace and keeps a nail-biting tension among the readers. The author picks up Illuminati, one of the most controversial topics of Asokan History. No spoilers here, thus no storyline over here. The narrative dwells in the past as well as in the present era with RSS, Modi ( Pradhanmantri) among others. The cat and mouse game will keep you entertained, thanks to Indian Intelligence over here.The best part of the book is obviously the connecting dots between history and the present socio-political ethos of India. Sweta deserves an applause for providing such a treat to the readers. I enjoyed the close entanglement of well-researched facts and fiction, keep it up. I will be waiting for more stories from you and it must be on this genre. Sweta, I loved this one. Shaheed- E – Azam is also there, omg this particular phase about him and that too Kakori ( Bismil ka Sandesh)well, too good to stay away from such impeccable delight.

Do not miss the codes, do not miss the love story and more overlook for the truth.

Mitron, get the book.

Pros

Well researched

Gripping narration

Keeps it simple in style

Nice cover design

Cons

More character developments

The love saga could have been avoided, I enjoyed the thriller part(my pov)

Verdict – 8.5/10

About the author

Sweta Samota is an Indian author who writes thriller,mystery and romance. She is a computer engineer and holds an MBA in marketing. Over 13 years of experience in software industry where she was called the Decode expert, came handy in coding “Nine”. A nationalist and a runner.

Other books: 1. Kiss of true Love 2. Radha in a Jinx – a short story that was in top three in Amazon words worthy contest. 3. Radha in a Jinx- Reflections Recently.

Sweta recently won The StoryAward in flash fiction contest conducted by She The People Tv.

Discalimer – Images provided by the author for an unbiased review.

2.0 Chitthi aye hai ; Movie Review

Genre – Sci-fi, fantasy, Only Rajni

Players – Rajnikant ,Akshay Kumar, lots of VFX

Director – Shankar

Language – Tamil, Telegu and Hindi

First thing first, don’t watch the downloaded version from Tamilrockers.com. Hey, please get a ticket for a 3D show at the nearest theater. I watched the show at a city theater with a companion who was late by 20 minutes, silent sobbing. So, the movie is about the tussle between good and evil where the antagonist wins the heart. Akshay Kumar portrays an aged ornithologist who wants to save the birds and something happens, leading to his dangerous transformation into an evil crow, staright from Krishnapuran ( read the Mahabharat, where Kangsha mamu commands a crow to kill chota Krishna). The origin story of the antagonist is really heartwarming and it has been brilliantly narrated on the screen. Akshay Kumar delivers a balanced performance. The script doesn’t offer anything new. watch the movie for the story, no fucking spoilers over here. Rajnikant doesn’t need a script and he proves it. He plays multiple characters in the movie without even trying too hard. Amy Jackson proves to be the best of the lot, which means she was as usual good for nothing, apart from being fair and ok, she looked hot. Achaa, really hot.

Shankar is a visionary director, who keeps you glued to the screen with high octane sequences and that too with a dull script, yes a brilliant script is a hero but dealing with a flat script and making it interesting, well he delivers. The background score was really good and the action sequences in the football stadium deserves a thumb up, well Akki scored a goal. Robot version 3.0, the chota robots .i.e. Microbots were cute little adorable and blatantly mischievous robots, Rajni Sir tickles the funny bone in the audience. Jao paisa lutao aur dekh lo, torrent aur Netflix aur amazon, avoid.

In the first installment, there was an issue and in the second one the issue remained. The robots are always looking for powersources, they need to use ONEPLUS battery, long lasting. Some serious action scenes were going on, I was hooked to it and my companion said, “ the robots need a powerbank”. I am in still awe of that power bank stuff. Shankar, please provide it in the next installment.

A song by Pankaj Udhas, could have been used in the movie…

“ Chitthi aaye hai, aaye hai”

Ok sorry. 😛

Pros

Thalaiva in all the avatars

VFX, excellent execution by the team

Akshay Kumar as the Ornithologist, he shines. Excellent make up…

The Microbots, Chota Rajnis..hilarious

Grand vision by the director, Jai Shankar.

The Ecocritical angle provided in the storyline about saving the birds and environment at large

Some brilliant moments.

Cons

Bhai, VFX ka karey kya? Story line is dull.

Too much usage of special effects takes a toll.

The story line has been forcibly dragged and it contains heavy hangover of the first part.

Robots ka charge bahot jaldi khatam hota hai

Verdict – 7.5/10

Disclaimer – All the images from internet, mere baap ke nahi hai.

Tumbbad : Terrifically Haunting

Tumbbad

Language – Hindi

Country of Origin – India

Genre – Horror, Fantasy

Players- Sohum Shah and many more creatures

Director- Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi

I have always found Maharashtra beautiful in monsoons. Being a student in Pune and  Mumbai, I have enjoyed the long treks during the monsoon which mostly centred around the forts of Maharashtra. And once I asked a friend, why there are so many small temples in an around these forts, Pune  or any other places in Maharashtra?

The answer was, the only way to shun the evil spirits. I laughed.

And then, Tumbbad happened. It was like reliving the Maharashtra monsoon in the October heat but instead of relishing it, you feel haunted by it. I guess Tumbbad uses the dark clouds and the rain drops as one of the most important characters in the film. The film centres around a sleepy hamlet in colonial Bombay presidency. There is an illicit affair between an old bastard and a village belle leading to the birth of two offsprings. There is a Mhada and most importantly there is an old lady who seems to be cursed for eternity. The movie dives deep into the mythological folklore, adding the eternal aura of tussle divine and evil forces. There is hardly any positive feeling in the movie, Tumbaad rides high on the negative aspects of greed, violence, lust, greed and fear among others.

Even Dragons, the mighty creatures could not resist the lust of Gold…remember Tolkein’s Smaug?  The protagonist ( or the antagonist…) is a mere human from erstwhile India, who uses intelligence, physical power, guts and lots of black magic to unearth gold from the womb of mother Goddess. The vicious cycle goes on  and on.

Sohum Shah uses his body language and eyes to instil the pangs of greed and lust for gold. He occasionally speaks but he performs throughout, so does the crippled little son of his. There is so much of authenticity in the portrayal of Maharashtrian culture, lingo and social ethos of that period. Bansali can take a clue, giant budget and sets are not always essential to make a period film, it is always about the vision. But, I love Bansali also. The cinematography is stunning, with dark, cold and cursed with haunting solitude  Tummbad to the relatively lively Pune, it plays its part well. Tumbbad’s visuals are for the 70mm. Then, there are the colours of blood, there are scorching blaze of fire and eerie sounds of mutilated limbs and crushed bones.

More importantly, VFX usage is really up to the mark and it gels well with the gory narrative structure of the movie. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, thus to each and scheme of human, there are ploys of the devil and the climax proves it. There are rising actions in the first thirty minutes, there is a relatively dilute phase and in the latter half, it runs with steady phase and lastly it provides the audience with an orgasmic climax of action and fear.

Ah, Ramgopal Verma’s Bhoot was good, Konkona looked terrifying in Ek Thi Dayan and Anushka was really gory in Pari but Tumbbad nails with production values, acting and most importantly script and cinematography. The beauty of Tumbbad is that , the camera is a character, the production sets are also a character, it adds to the storyline.

Watch it alone, watch it on 70mm, Gaand faatega. Aur mazza bhi ayega.. agar nahi aya toh , Hastar aa jayega.

 

Pros

Brilliant Casting

Realistic acting

Awesome Visuals

Haunting Background Score and sound

Great balance between psychological and physical horror

Del Toro’s ambience, but blatantly original

Gothic atmosphere and no cheap copy of western horror flicks

Excellent screenplay and usage of silence in the narration

Awesomely freaky climax

Cons

Nothing

Ratings – 10/10

Trailer:

 

Disclaimer – Images from the internet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Varun Sayal’s Time Crawlers: Hextuple Delight

Blurb

Alien Invasion, Dark Artificial Intelligence, Time-Travel, High-Tech Mythology, Djinn Folklore, Telekinetics and life-consuming Cosmic Entities are some major themes in my book “Time Crawlers” which has 6 tightly-knit, fast-paced Sci-Fi stories. A quick look at the stories:

** Nark-astra, The Hell Weapon: **

The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.

** Death by Crowd: **

The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?

** Genie: **

He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.

** Time Crawlers: **

There are individuals who existing in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….

** Eclipse: **

No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shapeshifter aliens being hounded by an eclipse?

** The Cave: **

The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector.

=============================

Time Crawlers: The Book Review

I have been a voracious reader of science fiction but I have hardly come across any Indian English authors who have been able to stupefy ( Rowling effect) the readers to the core. Well, there is Samit Basu with his GameWorld Trilogy, Turbulence, Resistance among others and now Varun Sayal’s Time Crawlers leaves a deep impact with myriad themes and compelling storytelling.

It is a hextuple delight, well six stories in a book, so I took the liberty of using such bizarre word like a hextuple delight. One of the best features of this book is the style of narration. While in one of the stories the author uses the traditional storytelling, shifts to a drama like narration and amuses the readers with the interview technique. Keep it up, Mr Sayal.

Each of the six stories comes up with its unique charm. I am not going to divulge the plotlines, lol.

Almost all the stories have impressed me as a reader and a researcher in science fiction. Keeping apart  “Death by Crowd”, I would rate all the other pieces as excellent pieces of science fiction. Again there could be a separate post for this story alone, it raises few disturbing questions.

In order to be a writer, one needs to go through other works in the particular genre. I think ( entirely my point of view), Mr Sayal has been inspired by Issac  Asimov, Clive Barkers and Joseph Heller among others. The issues raised and the conflict conjured sums up to a unique reading experience.

Sayal believes in experimenting with narrative techniques and while doing so he never uses complex literary jargons in his narration. The simplicity is truly amazing and in the end, he creates a hullabaloo in the mind of the readers about the conflicts in the stories i.e. he raises some hard hitting questions. Well done, Mr Sayal.

 

Verdict : You need to buy this one. 4.5/5

Pros

The readers get to enjoy varieties of themes like mythology, time travelling, dark web, cosmic entities, artificial intelligence and parallel worlds among others in a single paperback.

The compelling storytelling by the author.

Impressive plot build up.

Gripping cover design, well covers are one of the most intriguing factors of a book’s selling point.

I enjoyed the nomenclature of a few characters like Trikalacharya, Jokie among others.

Cons

Death By Crowd could have been the best of the lot but it fades away in the end

The stories could have been a bit longer.

 

I have received a copy from the author in exchange of an honest review. Thank God, I accepted this one. I loved it.

 

Author Bio:

VARUN SAYAL is an engineer and MBA from I.I.T. and I.S.B. (top schools in India), who has been involved in theatre as a playwright, actor, and director, and has also been an independent movie-maker. His genre of writing is predominantly science fiction blended with mythology and a sprinkle of the gruesome actualities of life. In his own words:

“I think of each story as a surreal, fast-paced narrative that pulls in the reader right from the beginning, takes them through a voyage into an alternate dystopian realm, bequeathing to them images etched permanently on their minds. I live by the quote, ‘a true art calms a disturbed mind and disturbs a calm mind.’”

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Website and Social Media Links: 

• Website: http://varunsayal.in/

• Blog: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18131196.Varun_Sayal/blog

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/varun.sayal

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vsa2

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varunsayal/

• Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.in/Varun-Sayal/e/B07F37Z7LX

• Goodreads Book Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40540847-time-crawlers

• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18131196.Varun_Sayal

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Buy Links

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DRPPGK6

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DRPPGK6

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07DRPPGK6

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07DRPPGK6

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07DRPPGK6

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07DRPPGK6

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07DRPPGK6

Images from the internet.