Riveting retelling of a legend
In the autumn of 1612, in the courts of Lancaster (a county town of Lancashire) in England, 12 people were tried for witchcraft and having familiar spirits—a demon that appears to obey a witch, usually in the form of an animal. This was perhaps the most notorious witch trial of the 17th century where only one was found not guilty. One died in custody, and the rest were hung. What went on to become the legend of the Pendle witches is a dark tale of execution that only makes up just two percent of all the people, mostly women, executed over three centuries in England.
Set against the backdrop of this Pendle witch trials, ‘The Familiars’ is Stacey Hall’s debut novel in which many characters are based on real people. Fleetwood Shuttleworth, mistress of Gawthorpe Hall, has had three miscarriages and she’s pregnant for the fourth time. She has inadvertently read a letter from her doctor, addressed to her husband, Richard, which says she might not survive childbirth. And so she hires a midwife, Alice Gray, to ensure she and her baby both live.
Alice, though having a “low social status”, is a gifted midwife who has learnt from her mother all about delivering a baby. She believes she can safely deliver the child and keep the mother out of harm’s way as well. But her use of different herbs and potions to do so is seen as malevolent magic and Alice is accused of practicing witchcraft and taken into custody. By then, Fleetwood and Alice have formed a bond and are like sisters and Fleetwood vows to save Alice from the fate that awaits her.
Though many of the characters in The Familiars are historical figures, Halls goes beyond a fictional retelling of the legend of the Pendle witches. Through Fleetwood and Alice, she explores what it means to be women and how they are capable of the impossible when their love and limits are tested. Historical fiction can be tricky to get right especially as you have to make sure the facts aren’t distorted while keeping things exciting, and this is where Halls shines. She manages to provide an engaging viewpoint through her protagonist Fleetwood and keeps you intrigued and at the edge of your seat till the very end.
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About the author
Stacey Halls grew up in Lancashire and has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and went on to become the media editor at The Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk after she moved to London at the age of 21. Currently, she is the deputy chief sub-editor at Fabulous magazine, the UK’s most read women’s magazine with 2.2 million readers and circulation of 1.2 million. |
Book: The Familiars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Stacey Hall
Publisher: Zaffre
Published: February 2019
Language: English
Pages: 420, Paperback
A book about books
“Have you ever wished you could tell your favorite books just what they mean to you?” reads the first two lines of the blurb and, as a reader, you can’t help but think the book is going to resonate with you in so many ways. It does, just not as much as you had initially thought it would. But that’s not the author’s fault at all. She’s candid and honest and writes well too. The thing is, when you haven’t read all the books she talks about (who has heard of a book called The Calculating Book: Fun and Games With Your Pocket Calculator?) then you don’t know what and how to feel about it. And when reading is all about the different emotions it evokes, that kind of sucks.
In ‘Dear Fahrenheit 451’, the author’s debut work, Spence confesses her love for certain books as well as her satisfaction in breaking up with some works when their time comes. Covering books from a vast range of subjects and genres, Spence writes heartfelt letters to some of her absolute favorite titles like ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’, ‘The Goldfinch’, and ‘Matilda’, while expressing her fury at romance novels by Nicholas Sparks, ‘The Twilight’ series, and ‘The Fifty Shades of Grey’ books by E.L. James. She expresses her exasperation and disappointment at seeing them get checked out constantly at the library while good books sat on the shelves.
Spence writes not only to individual titles but also things that are associated with it like the library in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and the book collection she hopes to have in the future. It is while reading these letters that you find yourself vehemently agreeing with the author’s views, almost feeling like she has somehow gotten inside your head. You might not have agreed with how she felt about a particular book but her love for books is completely relatable and that makes you forgive Spence even for the useless and repetitive list of references, recommendations, and resources in the second half of the book. Yes, we know you love ‘The Virgin Suicides’, Ms. Spence. There’s really no need to tell us that over and over again. But then again, do we, as avid readers, ever stop talking about a book we love?
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About the author
By her own confession, Annie Spence can read while doing almost anything else: walking, cooking breakfast, or pretending to be interested in a conversation. Spence has spent the last decade working as a librarian at various public libraries and currently lives in Detroit, Michigan with her husband and son. |
Book: Dear Fahrenheit 451 (A Librarians Love Letters + Break-up Notes to her Books)
Genre: Non-fiction
Author: Annie Spence
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 243, Paperback
The Priyanka-Ayushman show
The chemistry between the real life couple of Priyanka Karki and Aysuhman Deshraj Joshi is so strong that it oozes out on the screen every time they’re together in the film “Prem Diwas.” Everything else falls flat though. Priyanka playing Sapana and Ayushman playing Sagar are both brilliant. But instead of using this chemistry to create a memorable Nepali film, the filmmakers have made an almost forgettable movie.
Prem Diwas is a romantic drama with a love-triangle between the poor and unconfident Sagar, as poor but self-assured Sapana and the rich and kind-hearted Yuvaraj (Bishal Kharel). Sagar, who suffers from a phobia of losing the people he loves forces his girlfriend Sapana into a fake relationship with her boss Yuvaraj, who is exuberantly rich and gullible. That’s basically what the 1h 56m movie is all about, with predictable twists and turns. Again, the movie feels stretched, save for the brilliance of the Priyanka-Ayushman duo and the beautiful cinematography that follows them across the hills of Ilam.
Priyanka shines with her ability to bring every emotion required to the forefront. As Sapana, a girl who works as a laborer at a tea estate in Ilam, she is cute, bubbly, free-spirited and compassionate. Ayushman, a newcomer in the industry compared to Priyanka, nonetheless complements her well. As the confused and dejected Sagar, Ayushman can be both loveable and despicable. Together, the couple are so into the zone that they make up for most of the movie’s lackluster plot and juvenile storytelling.
The weakest link in the love triangle has to be debutant Bishal Kharel as Yuvaraj who is a total disaster. He can’t even change his countenance in line with the different emotions required in different scenes. We don’t understand his character at all. Add some fake American accent to it and uncertain dialogue delivery and Bishal completely messes up what could have been a strong, imposing character. Playing a rich owner of a tea estate in Ilam, Bishal looks uncomfortable and can’t quite emulate the natural confidence rich people project.
But he couldn’t do worse than a few recognized faces who’re in the movie for comic relief. They’re loud, cheap and unfunny. In fact, the only comic relief is provided at times by Ayushman himself. Maybe Kollywood should forget the usual suspects of the industry and find fresh talent who can make people laugh without being loud.
As mentioned earlier, the only other positive about the movie, besides Priyanka and Ayushman’s acting, has got to be the excellent cinematography. With extensive use of drones and choicest framings, the beauty of Ilam and its peripheries is just breathtaking. Also, the title track “Phoola Diye Timilai” is subtly catchy and used as background scores to make some scenes more compelling.
Who should watch it?
The trolls who went after Priyanka for her Cannes appearance and the haters who labelled the Priyanka-Ayushman relationship fake, should definitely watch this movie. Priyanka shows why she deserves the Cannes invitation and how she could do with a little support from the industry. Ayushman and Priyanka prove their popularity individually and together in “Prem Diwas.”
Movie: Prem Diwas
Genre: Romance/Drama
Cast: Priyanka Karki, Ayushman Deshraj Joshi, Bishal Kharel
Director: Yogesh Ghimire
Length: 1 hr 56 m
Rating: 3/5
Strictly for the Bhai army
He’s 70 but has no wrinkles that come with age. He still has a muscular body and no evidence of arthritis or other physical ailments most septuagenarians do. No we’re not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone here, they’re old. We refer to Bollywood’s ageing bad boy who refuses to grow up—the ever ‘young’ Salman Khan aka Sallu Bhai who stars in and as “Bharat” in his latest installment of a ‘patriotic family action drama’. The film opens with a 70-year-old Bharat (Khan) narrating his story. With the filmmakers clearly failing to make Bhai look any older, we know from the first couple of minutes how realistic the film is going to be. “Bharat” is an excruciatingly long (155 minutes) attempt to make Khan look good from all sides. It fails, and exposes his lack of acting skills, while still offering a few lessons to the audience.
Lesson number 1: No one can pull off the India-Pakistan partition scene in mainstream Bollywood better than Sunny Deol and his hand-pump. All other attempts are futile and the subject has been so repetitive in Bollywood that it has probably desensitized the new generation to the ordeal of people from both the sides.
“Bharat,” based on the 2014 South Korean film “Ode to My Father”, tries to do a lot of things, especially from the patriotism angle, within one feature length film and thereby destroys a story that could have been deeply moving. We’ll forgo the plot here so that you can watch “Ode to My Father”, oblivious of Salman Khan and his team’s shenanigans. This brings us to lesson number 2: If you think a movie might be too patriotic to care about the basic storyline, give it a miss.
Lesson number 3: Any movie with Gutthi, sorry, Sunil Grover is bearable because of his consistent and clever comic relief. Playing Vilayati Khan, Bharat’s devoted childhood buddy, he gives a healthy pace to the movie with his faultless comic timing; we sometimes wonder why he’s not a bigger superstar than Sallu Bhai. But that’s Bollywood for you.
The recent Salman Khan movies have all made huge money thanks to the legions of Sallu bhai’s undaunted fans—the bhai army—and this one crossed the 100 crore mark in a couple of days. But even his hardcore fans will feel “Bharat” lacks the one thing that has always been the trademark of Salman Khan movies—good music. Looks like the recent India-Pakistan rift has taken a toll on Khan’s new movie too. Some of his most popular songs of late had the voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan while he romanced with co-actors half his age. (Jag Ghoomeya from ‘Sultan’ and Tere Mast Mast Do Nain from ‘Dabang’.) But sans the Pakistani maestro lending his voice to Khan in “Bharat”, there’s not a single memorable song. Lesson number 4: Salman Khan needs Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to look and sound romantic onscreen.
End of the lessons and time for special credits. Katrina Kaif playing Bharat’s love interest Kumud Raina, who he refers to as ‘madam sir’ throughout the movie, looks beautiful as always and has evidently improved her acting and dancing skills, and also her Hindi.
But without a proper backstory for her character, and with her Anglo-Indian accent, she is not convincing as an Indian government employee. Special mention should also go to Jackie Shroff who plays Gautam Kumar—Bharat’s father. The veteran actor holds solid ground on whatever little space he gets and sometimes we wonder how much stronger his character could have been if he had a better son, in reel life.
Who should watch it?
Besides Bhai’s unfaltering fans, anyone who loves elaborate Bollywood dramas might enjoy the movie. Comedy is definitely a genre Khan cannot fail in and the film does have its fair share of laughter. Also, Disha Patani and Nora Fatehi light up the screen in a couple of item numbers, worth watching for audiences of all ages and sexes
Movie: Bharat
Genre: Family/Drama
Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Grover
Direction: Ali Abbas Zafar
Rating: 2/5
