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Not every seven-year-old has a grandmother for a best friend but clever and curious Elsa does. And her grandmother isn’t like yours or mine. She breaks into zoos in the mid­dle of the night, gets chased by the police, throws turds at them and, to Elsa’s delight and dismay, has horrible spelling. She is also Elsa’s key to the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the kingdom of Miamas where she gets to be a knight and ride cloud animals.

This is where Elsa goes to escape reality—being bullied in her class for using long words or the fact that her mom is pregnant with her half sib­ling, whom she calls Halfie, and who will, she believes, make her mom love her less.

Granny might be crazy for some but for Elsa she is a super-hero. Then Elsa overhears that Granny has can­cer and the world that Granny has so carefully constructed for Elsa falls apart and Elsa struggles to forgive her. And, to make things worse, Granny dies. But before that she sends Elsa on a mission whereby she has to deliver some letters to people. What follows is a merging of reality and the Land-of-Almost-Awake.

 Backman is a skilled storyteller and his greatest strength is his ability to seamlessly merge humor and seriousness

Every story that her grandmother has ever told her (that happened in Miamas or other fairytale land) seems to be unfurling right before her eyes, and every character she met or hid from at the Land-of-Al­most-Awake has a real life coun­terpart. It’s through discovering these characters that Elsa ulti­mately forgives her grandmother for dying.

Heartbreaking yet hilarious, ‘My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises’ will charm you and make you see the world from an almost-eight-year-olds’ perspective, which really isn’t a bad thing if you think about it.

Backman is a skilled storytell­er and his greatest strength is his ability to seamlessly merge humor and seriousness in his writing. The only downside for those of us who have read Backman’s other work, namely ‘Britt-Marie Was Here’, is that you get to meet Britt-Marie in My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises as Elsa’s nosy and annoying neighbor.

For those who have already taken to her eccentric ways in Britt-Marie Was Here, that’s a little disheart­ening. However, Elsa teaches you a thing or two about loss, grief, anger, and ultimately forgiveness that makes My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises a sto­ry you are not likely to forget any time soon.

Book: MY GRANDMOTHER SENDS HER REGARDS AND APOLOGISES

Author: Fredrik Backman

Genre: Fiction

Translated from the Swedish by Henning Koch

Publisher: Sceptre

Pages: 353, Paperback

The makers of “Ek Ladki ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga” did not want to miss out on the opportunity of being the first mainstream Bollywood film to deal with same-sex (lesbian) love. Hence the haste. It’s true that the story is progressive but it is far from daring as well.

The film is about Sweety (Sonam Kapoor), an introverted Punjabi girl whose rich family is looking for a suitable Punjabi guy to marry her off. They are under the false impression that she is in love with Sahil Mirza (Rajkummar Rao), a theater writer who is a Muslim. Just a brief encounter with Sweety makes Sahil fall in love with her, and the confusions that follow make for a hilarious first half. Right before the interval we find out that Sweety is actually in love with Kuhu (Regina Cassandra) and the second half of the movie is about how Sweety, with the help of Sahil, tries to make her traditional Punjabi family accept her truth.

Who should watch it?

Old fans of Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla, and young and old Rajkummar Rao fans may enjoy the film. Also those looking for some light-hearted weekend comedy. But if you want a tug at your heartstrings, you may be better served checking new releases this weekend.

The film fails to do justice to this story. It wastes too much time revealing Sweety is actually a lesbian and in the next half the plot progresses so hastily it leaves no time for the audience to understand Sweety and Kuhu’s love to root for them. Yes, a small section of the film shows how Sweety started feeling like an alien in her childhood and how her preference for the same sex led her to being bullied at school. When she met Kuhu she felt like finally there was someone she could be herself with. But something does not feel right. For one there is no development of Sweety’s character to make us genuinely feel for the lead actor.

For a film that is celebrating same-sex love, it is ironic that the filmmakers seem scared of making their audience even a bit uncomfortable. Thus we only get scenes of some hand-holding, smiles and hugs from the two female lovers. It treads on safe waters. Yes, this is the first mainstream Bollywood movie showing same-sex relationships and they might be trying to make this movie family-friendly. But there is little of the kind of soulful dancing or heartfelt romance that usually highlight a Bollywood movie.

In the central character, Sonam Kapoor’s acting is mechanical and dialogue-delivery stilted. For instance, in a moment of despair, Sweety says to Sahil that she would choose to die if she cannot be with Kuhu but we do not really feel it. Other actors like Anil Kapoor (Balbir Choudhary, a garment manufacturer who plays Sweety’s father), Juhi Chawla (the impatient Chatro who is eager to be an actor) and Rajkummar Rao shine. They provide some much-needed comic relief. Abhishek Duhan (who plays Sweety’s controlling brother Babloo) and Regina Cassandra, in her Bollywood debut, are convincing too.

Pegged as ‘the most unexpected romance of the year’, events in this movie are mostly predictable. Its central message is that homosexuality is normal and has nothing to do with ‘westernization’, and that parents should live their life and let their kids theirs. Brilliant. It’s a tragedy that such an important message is so poorly delivered, even with a strong star-cast.

Ek Ladki ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Rajkummar Rao

 Before 2015, the Olive & Basil Food Hub was a pleas­ant relief for the residents of Maharajgunj and its periphery as they didn’t have to take the trouble of driving to Durbarmarg or Thamel for a fine dining experience. The 2015 earthquakes hit the building it was housed in heavily, and the restaurant had to close down for renovation. Olive & Basil is back. Despite the growth in the num­ber of similar restaurants in the area in the past couple of years, it continues to hold its own when it comes to serving sumptuous meals. The multi-cuisine restaurant has plenty of seating options, from café type setting for quick coffee and cakes, to luxurious fine dining space for lunches and dinners. With its own abundant parking space, the restaurant is located opposite of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, Maharajgunj.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Prawn Wrap Chicken

- Buffalo Wings

- Blue Cardon Chicken

Opening hours: 7 am to 10 pm

Location: Maharajgunj, Ktm

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,500

Reservations: 01-4721099

This reviewer sees Hindi his­torical dramas like Bajirao Mastani (2015), Padmaavat (2018), and now Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, as little windows into the rich history of the Indi­an subcontinent. You don’t watch these mainstream Bollywood mov­ies as perfect reflections of the times and the characters they sup­posedly represent. They rather gloss over nuances and twist histo­ry to glorify the protagonists, often larger-than-life personas who can seemingly do no wrong. Frankly, if they tried to capture history as it is, these movies would be niche art-house productions that would be watched by few. And Bollywood is all about minting money by playing on people’s emotions. Manikarnika (with its titular role played by Kangana Ranaut) is the same. A Brahmin girl with “qualities of a Kshatriya” is born in Varanasi (currently in Uttar Pradesh). She is the daughter of Moropant Tambe, a courtier to the Pesha (modern-day prime min­ister) of nearby Bithoor district. By and by, she is married into the royal family of Jhansi, an indepen­dent princely state. Renamed ‘Rani Lakshmibai’ after her marriage, she gives birth to a son, who unfor­tunately dies only four months later, robbing Jhansi’s throne of a natural successor.

 Who should watch it?

The fans of Kangana Ranaut and of her signature successes like ‘Queen’ and ‘Revolver Rani’ will love it. So will anyone interested in the legendary Jhansi ki Rani—if they are willing to forego some historical nuances.

After the death of their son, the royal couple adopt a son, Anand, who is later renamed Damodar Rao after their dead son. Soon after, Lakshmibai’s husband and the reigning Maharaja of Jhansi, Gan­gadhar, too dies after a prolonged illness. The British, the de jure rulers of Jhansi, refuse to accept Damodar’s claim to the throne, and decide to annex the princely state. The film is a tale of how Lakshmib­ai, even with a small force at her disposal, tried to valiantly defend her besieged state against the scheming British.

As a cinematic spectacle, there is little not to like about Manikarnika: a well-crafted conspiracy-leaden plot; thousands of colorful troops, men and women, engaged in pitched battles, with swords and guns and canons; well-choreo­graphed songs; a sense of being transported back into the mid-19th century India at the height of the British Raj. Everything is well done.

But, again, it would not be a Bol­lywood blockbuster if it didn’t take some liberty with history. In one scene, Rani Lakshmibai is seen jumping, a child strapped to her back, off the roof of a fort hundreds of feet high—straight on the back of her faithful steed, Badal. In anoth­er, a mature-looking Manikarnika marries Jhansi’s Maharaj, while the historical figure actually got mar­ried when she was just 14. The mov­ie also controversially expunges the rani of any involvement in the 1857 massacre of unarmed English women and children in Gwalior. Let us just say ‘Manikarnika’ is not afraid to take convenient shortcuts to spice up the plot.

At 2 hours 28 minutes, the film is a little long, but considering the immensity of the subject it is based on, just about bearable. Ranaut, who is also the director of the film, delivers another masterful perfor­mance in the lead role (if you are prepared overlook her unnatural ability to leap and bound, as well as some stilted dialogues coming out of her busy mouth). Danny Denzongpa as the queen’s trusted head of army is also convincing. There are no major acting snafus as such. But Ranaut is the front and center of the film and she carries it with some aplomb.

Movie: MANIKARNIKA: The Queen of Jhansi

Genre: Action

CAST: Kangana Ranaut, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni, Ankita Lokhande

DIRECTION: Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi, Kangana Ranaut