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We all have regrets, things we are embarrassed about and would like to undo if given a chance. But sadly, life doesn’t work like that. As much as we wish it were, time travel isn’t possible in real life. But we can indulge in a little vicarious living every now and then, thanks to good fiction where surreal things like time travel happen all the time. And books like these, though they won’t be able to change our past, can help us make our futures a little better.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ takes place in a café in Tokyo where, along with great coffee, customers are given a chance to travel back in time. There’s a woman who goes back in her past to confront the lover who left her, a wife who wants to get a letter her husband wrote to her before his memory started to fade, a pub owner who is estranged from her family but wants to see her sister one last time, and a mother who travels 10 years into her future to get a glimpse of the daughter she never got to meet.

But there are some conditions of time travel: They must sit in a particular seat and not get up—they will be forcibly brought back to the present if they do so. And they must also return to the present before the coffee gets cold, else they will forever be stuck in the past.

Also read: Take a Hint Dani Brown book review: Sweetly seductive

Originally written as a stage play before being adapted into a novel, there is a certain theatricality to it. Even the setting and characters are reminiscent of theater performances. The book consists of four individual stories and though you don’t have to read them in order, it helps if you do. The characters, at least the recurring ones, make better sense that way.

There are times when the narrative is a bit sappy but the lessons the stories impart and the bouts of introspection they lead to more than make up. Another issue I had with the writing style, or perhaps it’s the translation that is faulty, is that the same thing is said multiple times. But these are minor niggles. Before the Coffee Gets Cold might be a little rough but it feels like a comforting warm chocolate drink on breezy autumn evenings.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Three stars
Fiction
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot
Published: 2019
Publisher: Picador
Pages: 213, Paperback

The Nepali film industry is still in a primitive stage. Filmmakers, even those who have been in the industry for decades, have not been able to find out what the Nepali audience actually wants. Although some filmmakers have found something close to a formula that seems to work for them, most Nepali films in recent years have failed to even earn back their investment.

At a time like this, the makers of the 2018 film “Lal Purja” deserve a five-star rating for their bravery. The drama, infused with dark humor and based in a fictional village, is surreal. The makers went experimental with the film and for a critic, succeeded fairly well. Unfortunately, the audience did not seem to give it much thought. No wonder I had to search through multitudes of Nepali films released on YouTube to get to this.

Somewhere in rural Nepal is Miteri Gaaun. The small village of simple people who’re mostly into agriculture is also apparently a tourist destination. The men of the village get together every evening at Rock-Sea—a local tavern and homestay run by the village Mukhiya (Harihar Sharma)—to talk, drink and watch WWE.

In the village also live stepbrothers Om Narsingh (Bipin Karki) and Tantrik (Saugat Malla), who are at loggerheads over a land and can’t get their hands off each other at every chance they get. Their regular fights become a headache for the villagers as they try to outfox each other off the land. But little do the simpletons know that their property is under the radar of bigger players from Ghatmandu—the capital city. What happens to them next makes up the rest of the film.

The story of Lal Purja is nothing new, especially for the Nepali society. Siblings fighting—legally, morally and physically—over ancestral property is something that has been normalized long ago in our society. It’s the presentation that makes the film different from other mainstream Nepali movies.

Also read: Dui Rupaiyan: Worth your two rupees

Surrealism and mysticism galore in the film that begins with a poetic monologue from the renowned writer Kumar Nagarkoti who has previously released stories with unconventional plots like “Ghatmandu” and “Mystica.” Nagarkoti also appears in cameos throughout the film, so we guess the level of eccentricity in the film beforehand.

Eccentric would also be the right word to describe the main characters of Om Narsingh and Tantrik. Om Narsingh is a farmer while Tantrik is a tourist guide aspiring to become a tourism entrepreneur. Both men are physically strong and don’t shy from violence. Their physical confrontations are a treat to watch in the film as they try to emulate WWE moves to beat up each other. Actors Karki and Malla justify their reputation in the industry as they perform their respective roles with conviction. The physical exertions as well as expressions required by their characters could not possibly have been performed by anyone else.

Also adding charm to the film’s surrealistic reality is its background music and original soundtracks. Composed by Jason Kunwar, the film’s sounds range from electronic trance to local folk, all adding to the film’s oddity. There’s a particular scene where Tantrik beatboxes while a bunch of foreign tourists dance around him in a trance. The music at that particular time is so quirky that it is enjoyable.

Directed by Nigam Shrestha, Lal Purja seems to take slight inspiration from the Cohen Brothers and Stanley Kubrick films, especially in creating eccentric characters and using special color themes. But the result is only satisfactory, not great. There are many aspects of the film that have not been executed well. My biggest peeve with the movie is, it introduces the character of Parpala (Miruna Magar) and makes the audience believe she is important. The writing proves contrary though. Even though the film is themed purple, with hints that it’s because of her name, Parpala’s character lacks importance and the actor playing it also does not seem to be taking it in all earnestness.

Who should watch it?

The film is on Budha Subba Movies’ official YouTube channel, which is notorious for inserting random ads in its YouTube videos and Lal Purja is no different. So if you don’t mind the ads and are looking for a mildly entertaining Nepali movie, Lal Purja might interest you.

Lal Purja

Rating: 3 stars
Actors: Bipin Karki, Saugat Malla, Miruna Magar
Director: Nigam Shrestha
Run time: 2hrs 4mins

For the Nepali OTT audience, the most talked about topic besides Dashain for the past couple of weeks has probably been Netflix’s South Korean thriller series “Squid Game.” An average Nepali Netflix subscriber has probably talked about the series and its eccentricities on social media, at least once. So, I chose not to review it because i) You’ll probably have talked about it too much for my review to make any impact, and ii) The series is too mind-boggling for me to review in the limited space I get.

So instead of the Korean survival drama, I decided to go even darker and watch/review an American supernatural horror series called “Midnight Mass.” But first, let me reiterate how much I love mini-series because of their brevity and because they end in the same season, without leaving loose ends and making you wait another year for the next season.

Created and directed by Mike Flanagan, the miniseries Midnight Mass centers on Crockett Island—a small, isolated fishing village with a sparse population where everyone knows everyone else. The tight-knit community on the island is devoutly Catholic, except for its new sheriff, Sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli), and his son Ali (Rahul Abbur), who are Muslims.

In a town without many violent incidents in the past, Sheriff Hassan does have to deal with a bit of racism and also religious discrimination initially, but not for long. Bigger problems await him and the islanders. After the arrival of Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater), as a sudden replacement for the town’s aged Monsignor Pruitt, things start getting eerie. For starters, hundreds of dead cats—murdered—are discovered along the beach, the very next day of Father Hill’s arrival. Some island residents also start seeing a mysterious creature lurking in the shadows at night.

Also read: Ankhon Dekhi movie review: Underrated and under-watched

Quickly, incident after incident leads the townsfolk to believe there is something religious happening. Leeza Scarborough (Annarah Cymone)—who has been paralyzed after a hunting incident and has to use a wheelchair—starts walking at the behest of Father Hill at the church on Sunday Mass. This leaves the town of devout Catholics in a frenzy as they start believing in a religious revival.

Led by the church’s fervent parishioner Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan), the residents of Crockett Island rejoice in religious fervor, only to find that they’ll soon be visited by a figure from the Bible, someone they never expected. That’s when the whole town is immersed in horrors of biblical measures, followed by deaths and grievances.

The seven episodes of Midnight Mass are named after the respective books from the Bible, starting with Genesis and ending with Revelations. Each episode unfolds systematically, in coherence with its name. The miniseries is the brainchild and reportedly a ‘passion project’ of Mike Flanagan, who has had a proven track record of scaring the audience with horror stories like “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” both available on Netflix.

Although both his ‘Haunting’ horror series had some religious connections, with Midnight Mass, Flanagan directly enters the realm of the Christian Bible. For someone not so acquainted with the inner workings of Christianity, deciphering the conversations in the series could be a problem though. It was the same for me and I had to use Google to get some of the references. And the film also shattered my lifelong belief of what an ‘angel’ would be like. A bit of a spoiler because it’s necessary—Midnight Mass’s angel is no friend of humanity and has no feathery wings and a halo around its head. 

Who should watch it?

With each episode around the one-hour mark, Midnight Mass is slow and even snoozy at times. But that’s only when you stop paying attention to every detail and projection. Otherwise, the series gives you all the expected thrills and chills. So, for lovers of the genre, some Catholic horror right after Dashain would be a good watch.

Midnight Mass 

Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Horror
Actors: Rahul Kohli, Rahul Abburi, Samantha Sloyan
Director: Mike Flanagan
Run time: 7hrs 40mins

Romance isn’t my thing. In real life and in books. But I’m more than willing to make an exception for Talia Hibbert. She is a magician. She takes tried and tested tropes and comes up with absolutely stunning masterpieces. I read ‘Get a Life, Chloe Brown’ because so many of my friends were talking/posting about it. Despite my initial skepticism of the genre, I got sucked into the story and it was a happy time. I read the second book in the three-part series this Dashain and it really helped me cope with festival-induced stress.

I was in a good space mentally, constantly thinking about Danika or Dani and Zafir, the main characters of Hibbert’s ‘Take a Hint, Dani Brown’. This charming story about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him ‘rescuing’ her goes viral was named one of the best romances of 2020 by Buzzfeed, Amazon, Bustle, Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus, among many others. Indeed, it’s an exciting story, with some really steamy scenes and heartwarming instances that leave you with the happy kind of butterflies-in-your tummy feeling.

PhD student Danika Brown thinks romantic partners are distractions. She prefers friends-with-benefits. She prays for it too—a sign from the universe that a particular someone could be that person. When a security guard at Dani’s workplace, Zafir Ansari, rescues Dani from a fire drill gone wrong, Dani thinks there couldn’t be a bigger and clearer sign. Then the viral video has the two ‘pretending’ to be romantically involved but feelings run deep on both sides. However, neither is sure of the other’s feelings and doesn’t want to do anything to sabotage their ‘fake’ relationship. Dani fears being in an actual relationship will shift her focus from work. Zafir is a hopeless romantic but he has issues of his own that stop him from getting too close to anyone.

Also read: I’m Thinking of Ending Things book review: Feels like a fever dream

The ending is predictable (obviously, and you wouldn’t want it any other way) but it’s the journey that has your heart racing. Dani and Zafir’s shenanigans made me giggle, roll my eyes, and laugh out loud. The friends-to-lovers trope is so well executed that it doesn’t feel cliché at all. And Dani and Zafir are such loveable characters. You want them to be your friends. No other characters, of the romance genre at least, have had such an impact on me till now. (Wait, did I say that for Chloe and Redford from ‘Get a Life, Chloe Brown’ as well?).

And no, you don’t have to have read Get a Life, Chloe Brown to pick this one up (though I recommend you do) as it is a complete novel in itself. I’m super excited about ‘Act Your Age, Eve Brown’, the story of the youngest Brown sister, but I have a strong feeling that out of the three sisters, Dani will always be my favorite.

Take a Hint Dani Brown

Four stars
Fiction
Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2020
Pages: 400, Paperback