Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon

“Lyrics are important but they’re just not as important as melody.” – Alex Fletcher Music and Lyrics (2007)

The above quote is from one of my favorite movie ‘Music and Lyrics’ while the main lead argues with the lyricist that his melody is more important than her lyrics. One of the best books I have read recently has been ‘Sahir- People’s Poet written by Akshay Manwani.

Sahir Ludhianvi’s genius is probably not known to my generation who has grown up in the 90’s and the only lyricist names that they are familiar with are Gulzar and Javed Akthar. Sahir has perhaps written some of the best songs in Hindi cinema which have become immortal gems. Its only while reading this book that I came to know that some of my favorite classic songs were written by him e.g. ‘Abhi na Jao Chodkar’ or Chalo ek baar phir sey or the evergreen ‘Kabhi Kabhi’.

Sahir mingled his political and social ideology through his songs like ‘Jinhe Naaz hai Hind’ par or ‘Tu Insaan hai’. A whimsical genius by nature his scuffles with music directors and singers are well highlighted. The man always felt the role of the lyricist is more important than a music director and fought for equal and higher credit for lyricists. The chapter on his romance with Amrita Pritam is just melancholic because you really wish these beautiful creative souls deserved a happy ending.

Sahir was a man who felt everything deeply and as written needed some real-life situation, to act as his muse whether it was the nation’s political situation or his personal life tragedies. He was a man who made a name for himself on his own terms and believed in his skill and worked with everyone possible.  The special bond that he shared with both the Chopra brothers is extremely well detailed with quotes from the Late Yash Chopra.

The book makes one wonder that only a genius can write such a self-aware song on the life a poet i.e. ‘Main Pal do Pal ka shayar hoon’.  I highly recommend this book for all those who love old Bollywood songs from its golden musical period of 50-60’s. In conclusion, one should read this book to truly understand Sahir’s magical musical legacy just like his pen name.

Trilogy in Focus: Crazy Rich Asians

The life of constant luxury can be often quite boring said no one ever.  Crazy Rich Asians delves into the life of superrich where being a millionaire is considered poor and your ranking on the ‘Forbes Wealthiest Asia List’ determines your social status.

This book popped up on my Facebook feed under the story ‘Book movies we are looking forward to in 2018’ and sure enough, the title definitely intrigued me. A sample chapter later I was sucked into the life of the Young family with its extended branches. The main story circles around the life of the lead couple Nicholas Young and Rachel Chu along with well etched out specimen supporting characters.

Crazy Rich Asians is a trilogy and so let me break it down the key events that happen in the book.

Part 1

Crazy Rich Asians:  The first part of the trilogy deals with Nicholas and Rachel’s love story and opposition they face from Nick’s family because they are extremely wealthy and Rachel is just a regular ABC (American Born Chinese). The story starts with the couple getting ready to spend a summer in Singapore starting with Nick’s best friend Colin’s wedding. However, Nick has hidden one tiny detail from Rachel that he is extremely rich and probably the future heir to his grandmother’s estate Tyersall Park. The book ends with Nick’s and Rachel relationship breaking up and Nick’s grandmother threatening to disinherit him.  This fuelled with the drama of his cousins Alistair who is dating Kitty Pong a soap actress and Astrid who is facing marital problems.

Part 2

China Rich Girlfriend: The location of the second book shifts to from Singapore to China where Rachel thanks to her over interfering mother-in-law Eleanor Young discovers her billionaire politician father and speed racing maniac stepbrother. Her lives get entwined with billionaire heiress Colette Bing who is also dating her stepbrother. Spas on private jets, couture shopping in Paris, paintings going for record-breaking millions man these people make Mukesh Ambani look poor. Astrid’s marital problems continue with her ex Charlie Wu coming into the picture. Kitty Pong tries to climb the ranks of Hong Kong’s high society.

Part 3:

Rich People Problems: The vultures start circling as Nick’s grandmother Su Yi is on her deathbed. A lot of succession drama starts unfolding with Edison Cheng starts playing the villain. Nick is banned from his grandmother’s house Tyersall Park which is worth billions of dollars. The will brings out surprises and the time is ticking for Nick to save his childhood home from being torn down. Astrid and Charlie are battling a bitter divorce and many scandals whereas Kitty Pong is trying to one-up her stepdaughter with help of new consultant Oliver T’sein who has a hidden agenda of his own.

Why you should read this:  Big Money Bigger the problems and better the drama. This trilogy is unputdownable I was glued to the books and finished all 3 books super fast.  The books never get boring there is a lot of humor and amazingly even the smallest character is well etched out. This series is perfect when you want to de-stress from those serious books or take a light read to on a holiday.

 

P.S. The family tree gets confusing but if you have grown-up on a steady diet of K-soaps or have an extended family then following through will not be a problem.

The House That BJ Built Book Review

The House That BJ Built Cover

Two years back in 2013 Anuja Chauhan introduced us to charm of the late eighties/early nineties the era of Doordarshan or Deshdarpan as she puts it and the era of alphabetically named Thakur girls on Hailey Road and since then we have been waiting for them to once again bring Hailey road down. In fact I literally ran to the nearest crossword in my pyjama’s for the book.
This year Thakur girls are back though post liberalized India they older but definitely not wiser and an addition a new half Thakur who gives the girls a run for their money meet Bonita Singh aka Binodini’s daughter whose first words were balls. How can we forget the quintessential Chauhan hero is charming, successful, and funny and loves his family say hello Samar Vir Singh (Anjini’s step son). There is also good mix of new and old characters like wily chachaji and chachiji along their wrestler son Gulgul and north East Indian tenants, Samar’s Bollywood friends are also part of this new screwball rom-com which has its share of each romance, comedy, emotions, sibling rivalry and bonding along with Delhi culture.
The book is set almost 20 years later to the events of the Thakur Girls where the grand house of Hailey Road is in ruins like the patriarch L.N. Thakur’s health and his orphan grand-daughter Bonita Singh has a flourishing garment fabrication unit read original fake with turnover of 2crs and is also taking care of him. The real story starts post his death and how Samar has to equally divide the property among the four and half Thakur sisters. The property dispute becomes the heart of the book along with all the screwball characters romance between the leads as every hissa counts.
Chauhan’s trademark humour and Hinglish is present through and through and that what makes it enjoyable to the tee e.g. Chachaji describing L.N Thakur like bijli that sometimes he is bright and sometimes dim or usage of words like mega kaand. Another funny set of characters in the book are Trings who are cute old north eastern Indian tenants who party and bring some laughs.
The Thakur girls maybe older but they not lost their spark Anjini continues to the flirt, Chandralekha is spiritual and the Vibhishan of the family, Debanjini is a successful anchor on a national channel and Eshwari too is an NRI. The slimy builder in this case Eshwari’s old flame Sathessh and we have one couple called Satheswari. Their bonding just continues to show how sibling relationships can never change and no matter how old you are you will love and hate your siblings at the same time
Final Analysis: Chauhan once again gives a brilliant rom-com true to her style with a lot chutzpah read it if you loved Thakur girls in the first book or another of Chauhan’s books. My favourite character is Chachiji because she is extremely funny as she bring maximum laughs and is the typical ever suffering Bhartiya Nari who can love her husband un-conditionally and beat the shit out of him too. If you have favourite leave it comment box below

Final Rating : 3.5 out of 5
Availability: The book is available on Amazon & Flipkart for Rs. 228 along with Crossword stores for Rs.350