Movie: Piku

I catch up on movies very late. I have in general stopped going to the theatre to watch a movie. Not a conscious effort, but it just so happens that it has slipped way down in the list of things that I do. I do catch up on some movies, months or sometimes years after they have been released.

Recently I watched the Hindi movie Piku, on Netflix.

It turned out to be one of the best Hindi movie watching experience I have had in a long time. Deepika, as the daughter who is tired of her hypochondriac father, Amitabh, as the chronically constipated complaining father and Irfaan Khan, as the taxi stand owner, who drives the above mentioned duo from Calcutta to Delhi, integrate as the characters they play seamlessly.

It is a funny, amusing, poignant and aesthetic movie with excellent screenplay, performances, photography and music.

The songs Bezubaan, Teri Meri Baatein, Lamhe Guzar Gaye and Journey song are captivating with soulful lyrics and rhythm. They are absolutely my favorites right now, on my playlist.

Haunting and lyrical - beautiful short stories by Yuri Kazakov

I found the book 'Autumn in Oak Woods' by Yuri Kazakov, published by Progress Publishers, at my in-law's home library, when I was in Madurai this summer. There are 12 stories in this collection. I don't think I have thought of any book as beautiful before. This book is beautiful. The writing is haunting and lyrical. I fell in love with the writing even though it is a translated work.

Some stories happen in fishing villages and in wilderness in Northern Russia. Some are set in Moscow and some around the country side of Moscow. There is a similar familiar voice throughout the book. There is pain, love, and melancholy in the stories. There are unsaid words, unfinished relationships. The stories have vivid descriptions of settings and emotions. Then there is alluring, romanticized description of nature, wilderness and music. Nature especially. You can perceive the love for it throughout the book. The North Sea, cabins, shacks, fishing villages, islands up north, rain, snow, river, Milky Way and northern lights all come alive and enchant.

My favorite stories were 'Nikishka's Secret', 'Adam and Eve', and 'Blue and Green'.

In Nikishka's Secret, Nikishka, an 8 year old boy goes to see his father, who is out fishing in the wilderness, on horseback. He goes along the sea, watching rivers flowing into them, along mountains and through the forest, taking in the view. The story ends with him, his father and their dog gazing at the Milky Way at night. The description of which is enticing.

Adam and Eve, is about a disgruntled painter from Moscow, who moves to an island up north, looking for some inspiration to paint. One night, he happens to watch the Northern Lights shimmering in the sky which enamors and moves him.

Blue and Green is a poignant adolescent love story.

The thing I liked most about the stories is that they are not resolved in the usual pattern. There is no definitive ending. There is no happily ever after. The words start, flow, bewitch and then they stop.