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A group of people, including women and children, have been living under makeshift tents on a roadside at Sallaghari in Bhaktapur for the past few weeks. They have traveled all the way from Rajasthan, India, for an annual fair. 

They say they have been coming to Nepal every year to attend the same fair, and each time they bring new products. This time, they have brought China-made inflatable bathtubs to sell. The most expensive bathtub is priced at Rs 10,000. 

When this photographer visited their living area, the families of these traveling merchants were going about their day: some were attending to their impromptu shops, some were preparing food while others were looking after their children. The footfall of customers also seemed decent. Asked whether the local authorities have tried to vacate them from the area, they say apart from a couple of visits from the local police, there has been no problem. They say they are only here for a few weeks and will return to their home country after the fair.

A group of people, including women and children, have been living under makeshift tents on a roadside at Sallaghari in Bhaktapur for the past few weeks. They have traveled all the way from Rajasthan, India, for an annual fair. 

They say they have been coming to Nepal every year to attend the same fair, and each time they bring new products. This time, they have brought China-made inflatable bathtubs to sell. The most expensive bathtub is priced at Rs 10,000. 

When this photographer visited their living area, the families of these traveling merchants were going about their day: some were attending to their impromptu shops, some were preparing food while others were looking after their children. The footfall of customers also seemed decent. Asked whether the local authorities have tried to vacate them from the area, they say apart from a couple of visits from the local police, there has been no problem. They say they are only here for a few weeks and will return to their home country after the fair.

I love a good thriller. A fast-paced suspense always has me on a chokehold. But it leaves my mind the moment I’m done reading it. Rarely does a thriller novel get me to contemplate life. I don’t annotate these books, nor do I find myself going back to certain lines and paragraphs. Which is precisely why ‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ was surprising.

I wanted to race through the story but had to sit back and ponder what I’d read. Laura Dave’s writing is marvelous. She says the most obvious things in an impactful manner: they feel like the thoughts at the back of your head you had been unable to articulate.

The Last Thing He Told Me starts with a disappearance. Owen Micheals, coding genius and adoring husband to Hannah Hall, vanishes on the same day that the FBI raids his company over a fraud case. He sends Hannah a note. It says ‘Protect her’. By her, Hannah knows he means her 16-year-old stepdaughter, Bailey. Bailey, in turn, gets a note asking her to listen to Hannah. She also gets a large duffel bag full of cash stuffed in her locker at school.

Hannah wants to do as Owen says because she feels he must have a good reason for running. But Bailey has never been accepting of Hannah so that makes things difficult. However, both Hannah and Bailey want answers and together they try to find out the truth. As events unfold, you see, in flashbacks, how Hannah’s past influences her choices in the present. Owen, it seems, also has a secret that he has gone to extreme lengths to protect.

Domestic thrillers generally revolve around dysfunctional families. But The Last Thing He Told Me is about a loving family whose ties are tested by unusual circumstances. That feels so refreshing. Here, one of the characters hasn’t lost his/her mind or isn’t a malicious, conniving person who has been leading a double life. The situation might be ugly and disturbing but there is a lot of good underneath it all.

Despite the twists and turns that have you biting your nails, the book actually explores what we are capable of doing for the ones we love. It’s a stunning depiction of the lengths parents often go to in order to keep their children safe.

The plot isn’t without flaws. There are things that don’t add up. You are, however, forgiving of the little glitches as you care a lot about the characters and want them to emerge unscathed. But you know they won’t and that breaks your heart a little. The ending is perhaps the most gorgeous and touching part of the book. It’s been a while since I read The Last Thing He Told Me but I’m still haunted by it.

Four stars

Fiction

The Last Thing He Told Me

Laura Dave

Published: 2021

Publisher: Viper

Pages: 306, Paperback

As an actor, Vidya Balan has always been impressive. She has been a powerhouse in Bollywood, performing a host of (mostly unconventional) roles. So it is bothersome that her latest film has not been promoted enough to be easily accessible to her fans. I still cannot get over how “Jalsa,” an Amazon Prime movie, did not make it into my virtual ecosystem till a week after its release.

Anyways, Jalsa is a Hindi-language thriller with Balan in the lead as Maya Menon—a strong-headed, hard-hitting journalist known for her honesty and integrity. She hosts a TV show called “Face The Truth,” where she, as an evangelist of truth, mercilessly grills uncouth politicians and public servants.

Maya is also a hands-on single mother to Ayush, who has cerebral palsy.

At home, Maya has Rukshana (Shefali Shah) as a trusted maid and caretaker for Ayush. Rukshana has an excellent relationship with Ayush, who is around the same age as her own son. She is caring and protective while also maintaining a cordial relationship with Maya and her mother, Rukmini (Rohini Hattangadi), who lives with them.

All is going well for Maya both at home and work when one day a late-night drive back from the office causes a drowsy Maya to hit someone with her speeding car. Maya runs from the crime scene that night, only to find that the incident will follow her, carrying the potential to destroy both her personal and professional life. How the bastion of truth then deals with a secret that haunts her and those close to her is what Jalsa is about.

On the outside, Jalsa might be a thriller, but the film is mostly about the struggles of two mothers—one educated, wealthy and powerful; the other uneducated, poor and powerless. The only similarity between them is the passion with which they love and care for their young ones.

The two actors in their respective roles put up stunning performances. Balan has had a flourishing career in Bollywood so far and in Jalsa, she successfully reinforces her class. On the other hand, Shah’s performance makes you question why she has not been given more lead roles in the past. The actor just shows how worthy she is of a good script and a strong character.

Co-written and directed by Suresh Triveni, Jalsa has its glorious moments: those panic-inducing, tear-jerking scenes. Saurabh Goswami’s cinematography captures the very essence of the panic, havoc and dilemma the film requires. One particular scene where Maya drives away from the accident scene with a slightly cracked windscreen stands out for its effective simplicity.

But in trying to add intensity and rouse the audience, the writers introduce a few subplots and a host of other half-baked characters while taking away screen time from the main story and characters. Certain characters appear promising, but then end up barely contributing to the storyline. This also elongates the film length as it crosses the two-hour mark with its deliberately slow place. Revising the script and cutting unwanted corners could have saved the film around half an hour of screen time, reducing production cost and also making it more interesting.

Still, Jalsa is a gritty thriller that invokes multiple feelings—mainly empathy. Embedded into its storyline are undertones of class divide, victim-blaming and systemic corruption. The central theme of truth and its many faces are well supported by these undertones and give the audience many things to reflect upon.

Who should watch it?

Jalsa tells you nothing new—it just repeats stories we have heard or read before with a more in-depth look at the characters behind them. But in doing so, it also forces us to question the very existence and of the ‘truth’ of everyday life. This makes it a compelling film that most of the audiences who prefer thriller dramas will enjoy.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: Thriller/drama

Director: Suresh Triveni

Actors: Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah

Screen time: 2hrs 3mins