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Soaring high
Reviewed by Vijay Mohan
The Black Archers:
Illustrated History of No. 47 Squadron
by Pushpindar Singh.
Society for Aerospace Studies, New Delhi.
Pages 100. Price not mentioned.
FEW
squadrons have the distinction of being the first to fly a
foreign-made fighter aircraft outside its country of origin. So, when
IAF’s No. 47 Squadron re-equipped with the MiG-29 in 1987, it marked
the beginning of a new era in air dominance operations over the
sub-continent.
Bleak
view of life in prison
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
Women, Crime and Prison Life
by Madhurima.
Deep and Deep.
Pages 244. Rs 990.
PRISON,
the hitherto forgotten places in our society, a forsaken place where
people who committed crimes were relegated to the background. Even
today, prisoners and undertrials live in such pathetic conditions that
human rights are a far cry from their lives.
Insights
into mainstream cinema
Reviewed by Rachna Singh
Melodrama and the Nation:
Sexual Economies of Bombay Cinema
by Karen Gabriel.
Women Unlimited Publications.
Pages 392. Rs 595.
BOLLYWOOD,
despite its numerically stunning 245 annual film releases, has been
peripheral to academic concerns. The song-dance sequences, the macho
super hero, the melodramatic content and comic relief of mainstream
cinema did not appeal to a majority of film scholars as subject matter
for cinematic discourses. Karen Gabriel in her book Melodrama and
the Nation rectifies this disjunction between scholars of cinema
and the popular cinema of Bollywood.
Sad
saga of failures
Reviewed by Rajbir Deswal
If I could Tell you
by Soumya Bhattacharya.
Tranquebar.
Pages 200. Rs 350.
THIS
book is a telling tale of failures galore. Failed childhood. Failed
manhood. Failed aspirations. Failed promises. Failed matrimony. Failed
parenthood. Failed calculations. The hero’s lament "F***ing New
India. It made, and then unmade me" appropriates it aptly, for he
suffers all this and much more, with the killer blow of the 2008 Share
Market crash, when he finally "decides".
An
emotional roller coaster
Reviewed by Manmeet
Sodhi
Nothing can be as Crazy …
by Ajay Mohan Jain.
Rupa.
Pages 242. Rs 95.
CASHING
in on the trend of ‘career novels’, Ajay Mohan Jain has
successfully churned out quite an engaging novel. An alumnus of IIT,
Kanpur, the author has once again proved that IITians, in addition to
being cerebral and earning millions across the world, can write a book
also!
Epic
engagement
Humra Quraishi
Sahitya Akademi awardee Chaturvedi Badrinath talks of his
prize-winning work and more
CHATURVEDI
BADRINATH, who has bagged the Sahitya Akademi award (English language
category) for The Mahabharata – An Inquiry In The Human Condition,
is a former civil servant. He was in the Tamil Nadu cadre of the
Indian Administrative Service from 1957 to 1989.
Crown
confidential
Shree Venkatram
Shrabani Basu’s new book tells the tale of Queen Victoria’s Indian
confidante
Unearthing
pieces of history and then offering them to readers in the form a
gripping book seems to be a tough job. And if one happens to be a busy
correspondent of The Telegraph in London besides being a mother
of two growing children, how does one find the time to pen not one but
three epic books, each blended with exhaustive details from the past?
Graphic
detail
Madhusree Chatterjee
Graphic novels find a toehold, with a Bollywood twist
Graphic
novels, the illustrated avatar of the conventional storybook, are
gradually making their presence felt in the country, offering a wider
bouquet of Indian and foreign titles and even roping in Bollywood
filmmakers for racy scripts.
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