Review of 'The Missing Piece' by Parul Sharma

"This was the small town dream -- to escape it at all costs, until they did, and then spent their lives being homesick for it." The line in the opening pages aptly captures the theme of Parul Sharma's book. Somewhere in between the "leaving" and the "longing to return", we get to experience the multiple layers of real human relationships with all its messy emotions. Parul Sharma's fictional Bulandwada could be any small town in India. Sukanya, born and bred in London, has grown up hearing stories of Bulandwada from her father. But unlike other NRI kids she has been deprived of the love of her maternal and paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins because her parents dared to defy traditional norms and eloped. However with her Dadi (Badi Mummy) nearing the end of her life, she wants to meet Sukanya. The girl arrives in Bulandwada and is instantly enveloped by her father's family as one of their own. But despite accepting her, her grandfather refuses to forgive his own son. As Sukanya negotiates this emotional dilemma, she unwittingly becomes a central character in the elopement of another couple in the neighborhood. With history repeating itself, will the family stay as rigid as they did is what the story is about. Add to it a mix of interesting characters - a student neta who spouts Shakespeare is my favourite - caste and political tensions and you can't stop turning the pages. The narrative is evocative and you begin to empathize with the characters (including the ones that are total misfits in today's modern environment). And perhaps that's the biggest learning for Sukanya...the home is not a place of perfection but a place where the heart resides despite all its imperfections.

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Marching in the Dark - a true story of grit and resilience

"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." I was reminded of this quote by Mary Angelou as I watched Kinshuk Surjan's documentary feature film titled "Marching in the Dark" . The film is an evocative tribute to the widows of Marathwada who have survived the suicides of their husbands - the men driven to despair and eventually death after years of failing harvests, rising debts and the cruel play of climate change. Surjan introduces us to Sanjeevani, an every woman who is not anyone's idea of a hero. If anything she is a victim - of her circumstances, of the unfair deal that she has got in life and of a male-oriented world that she is part of. But she has a quiet strength to her that is evident from the first time we meet her. She is grappling with grief and the burden of raising two small children after the suicide of her husband. She is a breadwinner as well as a homemaker. She works in her brother-in-law's farm who has given her family sh...

Farewell, Mr. Manoj Kumar! You'll be missed from Purab to Paschim!

Actor-Director Manoj Kumar breathed his last on 4th April 2025. For me, Mr. Manoj Kumar was not just a legendary filmmaker and a hugely popular filmstar but also a connection to my father, art director Desh Mukerji. When I met him six years ago - on 6th April 2019 - he was ailing. Yet, he was gracious enough to grant me time and invite me to his home. He reminisced about his association with my father which began when they were both starting out on their careers in the film industry way back in the 1950s. Reminiscing about the old days he said, "We were refugees from Pakistan and our family stayed at the Kingsway Camp. Later we moved to Nangloi and I studied at Hindu College. I used to be the captain of the cricket team as well." "On 9th October, 1956, I moved to Bombay. I always wanted to see the ocean. The first thing I did was land up on the beach, wearing a suit, and sweated it out in the Bombay heat!" he laughed. "I was starting out as an actor a...

Basu Chatterji's "Balcony Class" Films

Basu Chatterji's Rajnigandha was like a breath of fresh air in the 1970s film universe of Bombay. At a time when the Angry Young Man was beginning to dominate celluloid screens, Amol Palekar was as un-hero-like as you could get. He was the Common Man who traveled in buses, did not have hero-like mannerisms and did not breathe fire and brimstone at his opponents. Basu Chatterji's Middle of the Road Cinema burst on to the scene and surprised the movie-going audience with its everyday situations and storylines that had an undercurrent of humour. Chatterji catered to an audience that he liked to call the "Balcony Class". Anirudha Bhattacharjee, author of Basu Chatterji and Middle-of-the-Road Cinema writes an entertaining and heartwarming account of the life and work of Basu Chatterji, one of the most under-rated directors of Indian cinema. Recall of Chatterji's brand of feel-good, slice-of-life movies is perhaps highest for his Rajnigandha, Chotisi Baat, Baaton Baa...

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