The Critique

Sumrit Shahi, Just Friends... , New Delhi : Mahaveer Publishers, 2010, ISBN 9788183520119, Rs. 125, pp. 248. This is the author’s debut novel and I was surprised to read that he was all of only 17 years when the novel was published. The reason for my surprise is not that youngsters cannot write good prose but that he, being young and an Indian moreover, displays a fantastic grasp of the English language. If anything I must say that I am really proud. The story of the novel is in fact, a combination of two stories of two young persons who accidentally meet each other at an airport. Both share their life stories with one another and realize with a sense of déjà vu that their stories are more or less alike. Aaryan is a 17 year old who has come to Singapore in search of the love of his life (or so he thinks) whom he had befriended at an international convention. Tanie, a teen herself, is returning from the same annual international convention albeit a year later. The two are b...

Bernard H ä ring, The Virtues of an Authentic Life , Mumbai: St Pauls, 1998, ISBN 81-7109-347-7, Rs. 55, pp. 163. The author has written over 80 books and 1000 articles. He taught theology in Rome for 25 years. He has also lectured at other prestigious universities. His best known works are Priesthood Imperilled , Evangelization Today and Free and Faithful in Christ.   The book is a collection of articles written for a magazine. The author has given shape to his articles and has made them available through this book. The forty four chapters of the book are divided into four parts. The reason for doing so is not clear and neither is it mentioned. Each chapter deals with a specific virtue and is kept to about 3-5 pages. The first part lays the foundation for the book by clarifying the meaning and characteristics of virtue. Virtue, the author states, is a sort of competence that adds meaning and value to life. Living a life of virtue requires a commitment that needs to be...

This is a review of a series of homilies by Fr James Dabhi, published in Third Millennium , XVIII 2015 3, July-September. Fr James Dabhi published a series of reflections which he preached during the novena leading up to the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The first five reflections were published in this particular edition of Third Millennium . The reflections offer interesting food for thought. I was however tickled by the very first reflection which was entitled ‘Mother, our Intercessor’. In this reflection, he tries to present Mary as an ideal intercessor basing himself heavily on the incident at the wedding feast at Cana . With the idea of Mary as intercessor I have no contention but I do disagree with some of the matter he used to build up this theme. He states that Jesus introduced Mary at the most critical moment of His life-his crucifixion. My first difficulty is with the word ‘introduced’. I do not think that Jesus ‘introduced’ Mary as much as he ‘affirmed’ her a...

W.L.A. Don Peter, 50 Questions about Catholicism , Mumbai: St Pauls, 1998, ISBN 81-7109-351-5, Rs. 50, pp. 139. The book is a collection of fifty articles written by the author and published in Sri Lanka ’s National Catholic English weekly, Messenger. The purpose of the articles written under the general caption ‘Why’, in the words of the author, was to give answers to queries regarding the Catholic faith and the practice of it. Fr Peter addresses pertinent questions like ‘why are Catholics called Roman Catholics?’, ‘Why do Catholics say the Pope is infallible?’, ‘Why is the Catholic priest called ‘Father’?’, Why does the Church have catechisms?’, ‘Why does the Church annul marriages?’ and 45 others. He uses simple language and at times takes relevant quotes from Church documents or some other books. What is nice about his style is that he gives a kind of historical perspective of the question at hand and then goes on to answer it. This helps the reader to understand the...

John Mason, Imitation is Limitation , New Delhi : Orient Paperbacks, 2009, ISBN 978-81-222-0481-0, pp. 206, Rs. 120. The author is acclaimed as a million dollar best seller. His books and talks have supposedly changed the lives of thousands. I don’t doubt any of that, although I think the praise is a bit exaggerated. He has a way of convincing people. I could sense this through the book. I can only imagine how much more convincing he would be in person. As I read through the book I found myself getting inspired. Sometimes I would stop and ask myself a question or two. The book is an amalgamation of various thoughts aimed at helping people mature into the people they are meant to be. The content is broken up into small parts which help in self-appropriation. The author seems to have a lot to share but a critical look will reveal that he isn’t sharing much of his own stuff at all. In fact, one of the questions that was repeatedly coming to me was ‘What part of this chapter ha...

Dir: Stephen Campanelli Starring: Olga Kurylenko Dur: 1 hr 36 mins Genre: Action Rating: 1.5/5 PG: Explicit violence and nearly every sentence is ‘embellished’ with an expletive. The title signifies a build up that transforms from little to large, but no such thing happened. Alexis (Olga Kurylenko), is an ex-CIA agent who has been ousted and labelled as a terrorist. Her skills are unique and are tapped by her ex-boyfriend. who shared a relationship with her. The film opens with a group of thieves who steal diamonds from a bank. The opening itself, though intriguing, with suits that would add glam to a dance routine, and voice disguise units, gives away a bad image. The camera work is a bit shoddy. The excess of foul language jars against the ears. The heist is successful except for one snag, one of the group members decides he is done taking orders and jostles with the leader, in the bargain he is killed and the leader is exposed. Alexis witnesses the murder of her ...

This is a review of an article that appeared in Vaiharai , 20 /1, Jan-Jun 2015. The article was entitled ‘Biblical Understanding of the Evangelical Counsels’ by Dr Denis Kulandaisamy, OSM. Through the article, the author aims at establishing a biblical basis for religious life. Religious life has played an important role in almost every traditional religion, he begins. He does not go on to back up this statement nor does he venture to provide any further information. He just leaves it in the air, supposing the readers will understand. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, different forms of religious life have arisen. The most common division made in consecrated life is between the contemplative and active ways of living. Both of these are founded on the evangelical counsels, which are not inventions of the founders but are rooted in the Gospels themselves. The article is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the basic concepts of consecrated life and the evan...

Here is a letter I had sent to a couple of editors of newspapers. It wasn’t published. Nevertheless, it reflects what I feel about Diwali celebrations. Dear Sir/Madam, We have recently concluded the festivities of Diwali. Diwali has been touted as the brightest and in some cases, the biggest festival of the Hindus. Diwali is the celebration of the victory of light over darkness, of good over evil and of truth over falsity. The spirit of Diwali is wonderful but the manner of celebration is questionable. What has the wanton bursting of fireworks got to do with the celebration? I understand that they signify light bursting out through the darkness of night but their triumph is only temporary and besides, they are harmful to our Mother earth and to all of us, her children. On a day when we are celebrating the victory of good over evil, how can we contribute to the evil of pollution and public menace? I feel that in celebrating Diwali in the way we are prone to doing, betrays the ...

Natasha Lorraine Menezes, 7 Messages from the Yogi for Success , ISBN 978-93-83809-51-6, 2014, pp. 101, Rs 120. The book aims at helping people find success at work through yoga. The author proclaims herself a yogi and is eager to share the benefits of yoga with all interested. Sorry to say, the only success I experienced was going through every page of the book. The book doesn’t give a publisher, so I’m guessing it’s self-published. That explains the poor layout of the book. The matter, it seems has been stretched to reach page 101. The entire book contains matter of only about 50 pages. Talk about waste of paper: some pages have material printed on only one fourth of the page, others half, others three quarters and very few have fully printed pages. I wonder why the Yogi has nothing to say about that? The page numbering took me a while to figure out. As I reached the end of the first page I was shocked to find that I was reading the eleventh page of the book. I counted ba...

Dir: Matthew Vaughn Starring: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton Dur: 2 hrs Genre: Spy/thriller Rating: 3.5/5 PG: Plenty of foul language and quite some graphic material. The film is based on the comic book ‘The Secret Service’ by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. This is no run-of-the-mill spy film. In fact they go out of their way to get that message across. There is no super-spy, who completes a near-impossible mission and walks away with so much as a crease on his immaculate blazer. In fact, the heroes, for it is team-effort, are pretty ordinary spies. There is not a hint of James Bond or such like characters… maybe, there was a slight resemblance. The Kingsman are a secret service based in London who are so adept that no one even knows they exist. Gary’s (a.k.a.Eggsy) (Taron Egerton) dad was a Kingsman but he died saving the lives of his companions. Years later, Eggsy is given the opportunity by Harry (Colin Firth) to fill up a vacancy in the Kingsman...

Dir: Glen Ficcara and John Requa Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie Dur: 1 hr 40 mins Genre: Thriller Rating: 4/5 PG: Lots of foul language. A few romantic scenes and a bit of brutality. It’s all about deception. You are conscious of only so much. Your mind is usuallly focussed on only a few things. The rest remain just outside of consious awareness. That’s the catch. Where are you looking? Probably exactly where I want you to and at what I want you to. Are you aware of what you just read? If you are you would realize that there were 3 mistakes in the above lines. Focus depicts the exploitation of peoples’ low awareness for personal profit. Nicky (Will Smith) is an expert con man with a penchant for deception and gambling. He accidentally meets Jess (Margot Robbie) who is herself a budding thief. She tries to rob him but fails as he doesn’t fall for her tricks. She is enamoured by him and subsequently begs him to coach her. She becomes a part of his team and al...

Dir: John Luessenhop Starring: Chris Brown, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy and T.I Dur: 1 hr 45 mins Genre: Action/ Crime thriller Rating: 3/5 PG: Expletives, violence. Meticulously planned heists working out like clockwork make for good films. That is the first impression Takers gives. It begins with a bank heist that leaves the police clueless except for a few doubts. The ‘takers’ are a group of 6 guys who have turned pro in con jobs and have all but clean slates to show. The build up is a bit too much and takes a pace that gradually may cause one to lose interest. All is well with the team after their big heist until an old member, Ghost (T.I), who was only recently released from prison finds his way back. Tension begins to build within the team when Ghost offers them a job. Ghost had been doing time after getting caught on one of the takers’ previous heists. He appears to be seeking revenge and the group senses it. To avoid bad blood s...

Dir: Daniel Espinosa Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington Dur: 1 hr 50 mins Genre: Action Rating: 3.5/5 PG: Expletives, violence. A CIA safe house keeper embarks on an ordeal of a lifetime when a high profile criminal is brought to his safe house. Matt (Ryan Reynolds) is living a relatively simple, uneventful life manning a safe house of the CIA. He grows frustrated as he desires to be out in the field rather than simply being sitting on his haunches all day, day after day. His only thrill it seems is living a kind of double life: lying to his girlfriend about his occupation. Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is a wanted man. He is an ex-CIA agent who is currently involved in smuggling and selling intel. He is being tracked by the CIA who aren’t doing a very good job of it. Throughout the film, he is pursued by a group of middle-easterners for reasons that are unclear until the very end. In a bid to escape his pursuers, who are after some intel that he has o...

S. Perry, Periscopes , Mumbai: St. Paul Publications, Year of publication and price are not mentioned.  The book is a collection of literary pieces which have appeared in various papers and periodicals in India . The aim of the book in the author’s words is “to enlighten and entertain”. The book has 6 sections under which there are an irregular number of reflections or articles or literary pieces or whatever else you would like to call them. They seem to me, mostly pieces of advice on a number of issues. At times they overlap and repeat themselves but then again, that’s what advice is, right? Sometimes similar advice works for similar issues. The cover page proclaims the book as “A galore of wit and sparkling humour and inspiring anecdotes to banish your blues” but I couldn’t find any of these things inside the cover. What I found was advice that often used anecdotes or poems or quotes to embellish and illustrate the point. The sparkle escaped me or maybe my eyes have gr...

Dir: David Dobkin Starring: Robert Downey Jr. Vera Farmiga, Robert Duvall Dur: 2 hrs 20 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 4/5 PG: Swearing. Few making-out scenes. This is a story of a rich and eccentric lawyer who goes back home and tries to repair his relationship with his father. The film has a fair amount of emotion involved as one might expect and delivers a good message. Henry a.k.a Hank (Robert Downey Jr.) is a wealthy lawyer who has made a name for himself defending criminals and winning nearly every case. On the home front he is struggling in his marriage and has nearly no contact with any of his family members. He has an adorable daughter who it appears is the only person he is really attached to. News of his mother’s death urges him to go back to his home, a place he loathes for reasons that become apparent later. He doesn’t have a very good relationship with his two brothers and his father and he are dead to each other. He makes feeble attempts to revive deaden...

Dir: Christoper McQuarrie Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris Dur: 2 hrs 5 mins Genre: Action Rating: 3.5/5 PG: Occasional swearing. A swimsuit shot. Violence and destruction. The trailer of MI 5 created in me a really strong desire to watch the film. Unfortunately, when it came to the film, it turned out to be the case of the appetizer out-tasting the main course. I don’t consider the film a flop but it definitely didn’t live up to its benchmark. The film opens with typical MI style excitement that one hopes will carry throughout the film. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his buddies from the IMF (not International Monetary Fund but Impossible Missions Force) are involved in retrieving a stock of dangerous substance. The next thing we know the IMF is shut down under the forceful insistence of CIA chief, Hunley (Alec Baldwin) and Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Benji (Simon Pegg) are absorbed into the ...

Dir: Alan Taylor Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman Dur: 1 hr 50 mins Genre: Superhero/Action Rating: 3/5 PG: A few kisses; violence. The Thor series is a bit confounding because of its other-worldliness but it tries hard to remain at the this-world level. This film picks up from the first part of Avengers. The world is enjoying some kind of transient peace but terror is brewing in space. We are shown in a flashback the object of interest: The power of ether which was taken away from the dark elves and stowed in a place where it would be difficult to find by the father of Odin. The elves were crushed and destroyed, or so it was thought. Malekith, the leader of the elves and a few loyal henchmen escaped the onslaught and hibernated for centuries. Their slumber ended when Jane (Natalie Portman) accidentally discovered the ether after being sucked into a portal. The elves begin to organize themselves and plan to recapture what is theirs. The ensuing battle se...