A Storm Is Brewing In Westeros

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are probably very few folks out there who haven't heard of the Game Of Throne series. With the hit HBO TV series of the same name, the epic seven book saga (only completed till book five thus far) is a modern pop phenomenon being compared to the likes of Lord Of The Rings and The Chronicles Of Narnia. Penned by writer George R. R. Martin, the saga which shall span seven books (of which five have been published) is better known in the literary community as "A Song Of Ice And Fire".

It may seem a little strange that I chose the third book of this epic (unfinished) saga as the first to review. But truth be told, the review is a more of a summation of all the books I've read thus far in this series, with obvious importance being given to the title in question, A Storm Of Swords.

Set in the fantasy world of Westeros, the saga chronicles the intertwining quests of multiple characters (introduced very beautifully in the first and second books) The main players are noblemen from different houses (akin to feudal lords) whose lives intersect during the course of the saga. Some stories are set before the first chapter of the first book opens as GRRM establishes back stories and histories of the various characters and kingdoms. The quest for each character is more or less established when the first book comes to an end (with a rather epic climatic chapter!).

An ongoing war is ravaging the mainland of Westeros as multiple nobelman are vying for the enigmatic and awe-inspiring "Iron Throne". But a more sinister enemy is beginning to stir from the far north and threatens the very existence of men from all the kingdoms. Book three starts with events that overlap those of book two and detail events from that book from a different perspective. We are introduced to a few new characters and say our final good byes to some old ones (although they have a tendency of getting resurrected!)
There are parts that seem a tad out of place, but begin to make sense as you read ahead. And by my count this one has the most number of deaths of prominent characters than the previous two books combined! So there is plenty of shock and awe as you keep reading.

The book is the longest (over a 1000 pages!) in the series and in some countries has been released as two separate parts. Unless you've read the first two books, you'll probably be lost when you start with this one, especially since there are SO many critical plot points that tie in with the events in the previous two books. But then again, this is supposed to be part of a saga, so that's quite expected.

Although set in a world where dragons and sorcerers do exist, the focus remains more on the plot and characters, with minimal mention or emphasis on the "magical" elements. And I feel, therein lies the beauty of this series. Another aspect that makes this such a great read is that GRRM makes it a point to NOT paint his characters in black or white. Rather, each player in this "game" appears as both friend and foe depending on the perspective of another character (just like in real life!)

Simply put, A Song Of Ice And Fire is literary fantasy for adult readers. The series has me hooked. I have already read the first three books back to back and plan to continue till the latest one (Book four and five). But be warned, the series has two more installments to go before we see the EPIC conclusion of this Song Of Fire And Ice, and GRRM is notorious for pushing his release dates further and further into the future (Book five was published after a gap of six years!). So brace yourselves for a LONG wait to witness the climax to this absolutely brilliant and thrilling series.

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Kahaani - A Story Worth Watching

When I learnt that Sujoy Ghosh was the director of this flick, I admit I was a little skeptical whether the movie would be worth the trip to the movie hall. After all, his last two directorial ventures were, shall we say, complete failures. But one person changed my mind; Vidya Balan. She is undoubtedly this generation's most talented female actor to grace the big screen. The fact that she was this "story's" protagonist was reason enough for me to catch the phillum as soon as possible in the theaters.

Kahaani is the story (pun intended) of Vidya (or Bidya if you're a stauch Bengali) Bagchi, who has flown from London to Kolkota in search for her missing husband who it seems doesn't exist! The premise takes off into a further complicated nexus as her quest soon gets entangled in a much larger web of government conspiracy, national security, mistaken identity and treason. Vidya's search leads her into many precarious and life threatening situations while dealing with all sorts of characters in the city of joy during it's most vibrant and chaotic period of the year, the Durga Puja.

Ghosh seems to have learned from his previous follies and perfected his craft as the narration of the movie is absolutely brilliant. There is no element shown to the viewer that does not play a part in the overall development of the plot (Not even the simple one liners spoken at certain junctures!) The pace of the story and the suspense keep you hooked on from start to finish. And the climax is one that will surely get you to go "What the F**k!". After a long long (long) time has a director managed to pull off a good thriller movie in Bollywood. And the absence of the usual naach-gaana during the movie, makes this so much better to watch!

The movie does a great job of depicting the city as a silent character and cast member of the story as several scenes and camera shots encompass the life and size of the bustling metropolis. The backdrop of the Durga Puja celebrations suits the thematic nature of the central plot very well and is explained beautifully at the end vide a cool voice over by the Great Amitabh Bachchan himself.

The presence of actors, as compared to "stars" in the movie alleviated the acting quotient of the cast by a couple of levels and the performances from EVERY single cast member are top notch. There is no doubt in my mind that Balan has safely secured her first nomination for this year at all the major awards. But credit is also due to the other actors who should, in my view, also be considered for recognition as stellar supporting cast members. Parambrata Chatterjee as the upright local police officer helping Vidya and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the arrogant honest and a rather prick of an Intelligence agent are TOTALLY praiseworthy.

Kahaani is indeed a great and absolutely well thought and brilliantly executed movie which deserves your hard earned money and invaluable time at the movie halls. Seldom do you come across a hindi movie that challenges your intellect and delivers an entertaining story in return. The fact that this review was written at 5:30 in the morning the day after I watched the movie should speak volumes of how wildly amazing the flick is! Without batting an eyelid, this one is a sure shot ***** stars!

3:10 to CST

A warning! This post was meant to be posted almost 3 years ago! I dug it out of my list of incomplete drafts. I really don't know how come I missed this one. Anyways, here's to being better late than never. Happy Reading.


The other day at the railway station at Vashi (Navi Mumbai/New Bombay), I witnessed a rather bizarre incident. An argument was taking place between two prospective local train commuters (I say this because they were both standing near the ticket window meant for local trains). The argument itself was not a novel scene; let's face it, you are bound to find at least one tiff, argument, name-calling, fist-fight or at least a "Tere Maa Ki!" look at any major local train station in Mumbai (and even Navi Mumbai). What was in fact interesting was the topic of the heated word-fest. It seems one of the contestants in this fight-night (I presume the one with a laptop messenger bag flung around his shoulder), was purchasing a First Class Ticket, and the other commuter was waiting in queue to claim his Second Class ticket.


Now it seems the second fellow was irate since the techie had very coolly stepped up to the ticketing window and procured the FC ticket, while our Second Class friend had been waiting in queue for almost quarter of an hour (Oh did I not mention that this was around peak time and the queues were phenomenally long!). Obviously the SC commuter considered this callous on part of the techie commuter and demanded that he get back in queue and wait for his turn like everyone else.


Our techie, obviously not new to the local train commute scene, argued back stating that FC passengers have a separate queue and that he was not cutting in, merely following the rules and paying extra for the comfort of not standing in queues. To this the SC commuter replied with full rage and started claiming that such a rule was a farce and inane when so many people were waiting in queue for their tickets.


Obviously, the argument was not going to be settled any time soon, so the other prospective commuters in the queue, beginning to get agitated themselves, demanded that the two settle their score elsewhere and so the railway police were called in to act as referees.


I don't know what happened next or how the argument was settled, but the debate got me thinking; Is the rule for First Class passengers, purchasing tickets at the ticketing counter, to essentially cut-in ahead of the rest a valid one? Think about it, if you have been waiting in an agonizingly long queue for several minutes and you see someone just waltz in ahead of you simply because he has the money to do so, wouldn't you be pissed?


But hey, isn't that the way the world works? After all Money Talks! Restaurants, movie halls, airlines, hotels, cars, cabs and almost anywhere else more money gets you a better product and/or service! So why should the ticketing window at your local train station be any different? 


The bottom line is that if you can cough up the dough, you can walk away with the cookies! Don't get me wrong, I am not stating that being rich means you can get away with murder (although some people do manage to that as well!), but being financially well endowed has its benefits.

"Have Money, Will Spend!"

PS: In case you're wondering about the strange title, it's kinda inspired by the Russell Crowe, Christian Bale starrer -3:10 to Yuma. A fine movie with a rather tragic end.