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 Adèle is a wonderful book. But calling it wonderful feels a little worrisome because the prem­ise is as disturbing as it gets. Adèle Robinson, the titular character, is addicted to sex—loveless sex with just about any man who isn’t her husband. Her husband, on the other hand, is a devoted family man who doesn’t care much about sex. When Adèle conceives on their first try, “he was relieved that he didn’t have to wear out the body of the woman he loved by ‘trying’ over and over again.” So she picks up men in bars and bistros and hospital elevators and uses her best friend as alibi for the escapades.

On surface, 35-year-old Adèle seems to have it all. She is married to a handsome surgeon, is a suc­cessful journalist, and has a son she adores. And it’s not that Adèle enjoys cheating on her husband. She just can’t help it. Violent sexual release is what Adèle seeks for reasons even she doesn’t fully understand—perhaps to escape the monotony that comes from comfort because of her family’s money that “smells of work, of sweat and long nights spent at the hospital”.

Adèle is a difficult character to like. She is lazy and shallow, and seems to have little to no passion for anything in life except, of course, sex

Translated into English following the success of Lullaby, a story about a nanny who kills her young charges, Adèle was actually French-Moroccan author Leila Slimani’s first published novel. In various interviews, Slimani has said she writes about topics that fascinate her and by doing so she also wants to explore characters she doesn’t understand. Adèle is a story about women, what’s expected of them, and how their desires are often suppressed by it.

But Adèle is a difficult character to like. She is lazy and shallow, and seems to have little to no passion for anything in life except, of course, sex. It’s the crisp narration that keeps you hooked to this slim novel. The writing is sparse and Slimani only tells you what you absolutely need to know. She gives you a bit of a backstory, about teenage Adèle see­ing prostitutes that made her curious about sex, but there are no elaborate descriptions and details. Also, there is no moralizing from the author either. She doesn’t tell you how to feel or what to think about her nym­phomaniac character. Some readers will applaud Adèle while some will be appalled by her. But, either way, we will all think about her for a long time to come.

Book: ADÈLE

Genre: Fiction

Author: Leila Slimani

Translated into Englishby Sam Taylor

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: January 15, 2019

Pages: 240, Paperback

‘Avengers: Endgame’ is not a movie so it cannot and should not be treated like one. It is, rather, a carnival, a conclusion to 10 years of character and plot develop­ment. It’s like an episode of the final fight of the Mahabharata; you can’t evaluate the battle without under­standing the weight of events like humiliation of Duryodhan, marriage of Draupadi and the game of dice that led up to it. Directed by two brothers, Antho­ny and Joe Russo, Endgame is a direct sequel to ‘Infinity War’ and it picks up where the last movie ends. The Avengers, now less in number, are faced with a task of bringing back their ‘reality’ which they lost in their battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin). The movie starts with Iron Man (Rob­ert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruf­falo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) all getting back together, reassem­bling the Avengers team in good old Nick Fury style. Thanos, our super powerful alien antagonist, has a very noble philosophy of balancing the economics of finite resources and seemingly infinite population growth. However, neither is Thanos an esteemed economist nor a poli­cy researcher; just another weirdo trying to find a quick solution to a complicated problem.

 Every second was an experience in itself, the constant hooting and whoops of the audience indicative of how good a movie this was

And in a very no spoiler fashion, that’s the endgame this ‘Endgame’ deals with: The reality of Thanos’ quick solution to this problem.

I might have made the prem­ise boring with those parallels but I swear the movie’s not. It’s a superhero movie that packs all the punches, literally. It’s electrifying. It’s marvelous. It’s … Okay, enough with the puns.

First off, the movie has an invest­ment of $300-400 million, double of what a typical blockbuster movie costs. So I expected it to be colossal, from its VFX to battle sequences, and it did not disappoint.

Every second was an experience in itself, the constant hooting and whoops of the audience indicative of how good a movie this was. In the typical MCU style, the movie can go from being insanely funny to insanely serious, while excelling in both. And it strikes that cord again. Following the suit of Infinity War, the movie also has its share of emo­tional moments. Also, be it a super­hero showdown or an emotional scene, the background score was perfect and just what you’d expect from Marvel.

I won’t go into details, but as you’d expect, there’s a very big battle sequence and it was at least three times as thrilling as I imagined it to be. Hands down, the best battle sequence in entertainment history. It tells a story of perseverance, of resilience, duty and unity, in the grandest possible way.

There’s also this scene in the bat­tle where all the superhero ladies of Marvel get together and get their hands dirty with the aliens. And no, these women don’t just play a sup­porting role, or semi-important side chicks; they’re in the frontline of the story, because a superhero doesn’t have a gender.

If you’re ready to leave out some plot loopholes and enjoy the movie as it narrates itself, it’s a 3 hour 1 minute movie that feels too short. It’s entertaining while it’s emotion­al. It’s funny while it’s serious. This movie will be remembered for gen­erations to come and will go down in history books as a display of both the cultural and financial prowess of cinema,

 Who should watch it?

Everyone. If you are unfamiliar with Marvel characters and have not watched Infinity War, you may struggle to follow the plot a bit. The movie, as good as it is, may also be a little too long for some. Whatever. Just go and watch

Movie: Avengers Endgame

Genre:  Sci-fi/Action

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo

Direction: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Rating: 4.5/5

 Your work commitments might leave you with very little time to read a good book but don’t let that deter you from picking up ‘No Fixed Address’ by Susin Nielsen, which you can finish in a day, or a weekend at the most. The novel might have been writ­ten for 10- to 12-year-olds, but adult readers will find it as engag­ing. It will kind of remind you of Nick Hornby’s ‘About a Boy’ but with its own unique aspects, No Fixed Address is as fresh and delight­ful as it can get.

The basic premise of the YA nov­el is this: 12-year-old Felix’s mom, Astrid, is a caring mother but she is also depressed and thus can’t seem to hold a job. Unable to pay rent for their shabby apartment, Astrid decides to live in a van. She instructs Felix not to tell anyone about this living arrangement as that might mean he will be taken away from her and put into foster care. What was to be a temporary arrangement soon becomes a way of life for the mother son duo and Felix struggles to cope with it.

Felix is too young to understand what’s going on with his mother but he wants to help her

Felix might be too young to under­stand what’s going on with his moth­er but he wants to help her and that opportunity arises when he gets a chance to audition for a junior edi­tion of ‘Who What Where When’, a quiz contest. Winning the cash prize would solve all their problems and, most importantly, put an actual roof over their heads. With a knack for trivia, Felix is determined to earn a spot on the show. But things don’t turn out the way he expects them to.

The novel is charming because Nielsen tells a simple story with a lot of grace and empathy, and she seems to know exactly how her characters, even secondary ones like Felix’s best friends, Dylan and Winnie, are supposed to be. Astrid, even with her knack of acquiring useless boyfriends, losing useful jobs, and “borrowing” from super­markets, manages to worm her way into your heart, and you desperately want to help Felix in his quest to save her.

But, struggling against circum­stances well beyond his control and juggling responsibilities that are no child’s play, it is Felix who has you in the palm of his hands. You will read No Fixed Address without a moment’s break because the antici­pation of how Felix manages to pull his mother and himself out of the cracks of poverty won’t let you think of anything else.

No Fixed Address

Genre: Fiction

Author: Susin Nielsen

Published: September 2018

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books

Pages: 288, Hardback

 This elaborate period drama set in 1946 India, a year before the country’s partition, is a treat to the eyes. If you like elaborate histor­ical dramas, à la Sanjay Leela Bhan­sali (‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Ram-leela’ and ‘Padmaavat’), then you will like ‘Kalank’ too. And yet it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The film revolves around long-bur­ied secrets of a family in pre-par­tition Husnabad, Lahore, where the majority of the population is Muslim. A tragic tale of six people whose lives are intertwined under the larger Hindu-Muslim conflict and the trauma of India-Pakistan partition, Kalank offers a magnifi­cent visual spectacle that transports us back in time.

In lead roles are all mega-stars and their talent is not wasted. After debuting together in ‘Student of the Year’ (2012), Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan have each grown a lot as actors, more so Bhatt. Lately, she has been able to nail even the most difficult roles.

 Kalank’s major drawback is that in this day and age it is extremely hard to keep the audience hooked for three straight hours

We have already seen Bhatt work her magic in films like ‘High­way’ (2014), ‘Udta Punjab’ (2016) and ‘Raazi’ (2018). She does not disappoint in Kalank as well. Here she plays Roop, who is married off against her will to an already married man and finds her­self badly torn between her heart and her mind.

Aditya Roy Kapur brings his trade­mark laid-back attitude to the table as Dev Chowdhury, a silent and loving man who as a newspaper editor is on a crusade against the imminent partition of his country. Varun Dhawan as Zafar, a philander­ing ironsmith born out of wedlock, gives a hot-and-cold performance this time. The audience never quiet connect with him. Completing the Kalank ensemble are Madhuri Dixit (the dance queen is, of course, a courtesan), Sanjay Dutt (a dour busi­nessman and father) and Sonakshi Sinha (a desperate wife).

Despite a complex plot and back­stories with multiple India-Pakistan conflict subplots, you can easily fol­low the storyline. If you can ignore some bad VFX work, the spectac­ular costumes, jewelry and set designs will have you oohing. The Alia-Madhuri dances are reminis­cent of that unforgettable Aish­warya-Madhuri combo in the clas­sic ‘Dola re Dola’ from the movie ‘Devdas’ (2002). Even though there are plenty of songs in this film you don’t feel like it because you will enjoy most of them.

At just under three hours, it does feel a little stretched though. Kalank’s major drawback is that in this day and age it is extremely hard to keep the audience hooked for three straight hours, no matter how good a film is. And Kalank is not perfect for that matter. The back­ground scores are mistimed. Essen­tial stuff like how a lowly courtesan owns the most lavish kothi, or why a newspaper is targeted by mobs for its simple reporting, are left to the audience’s imagination. Moreover, the sequence of events is hurried, with the viewers seldom getting a change to digest a crucial event.

There is no shortage of good music, great dancing and unexpected plot twists though. Director Abhishek Verman seems determined to pull off a Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and he has largely succeeded. This one is a cinematic treat!

Movie: Kalank

Genre: Drama/Romance

Cast: Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt

Direction: Abhishek Verman

Rating: 3.5/5