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Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards Non-Fiction 2014, ‘The Opposite of Loneliness’ by Marina Keegan is a collection of essays and stories that captures the universal hopes and struggles as one prepares to face the ‘real’ world after graduation. On her graduation day Marina had said, “I will live for love and the rest will take care of itself.” Her love for and fascination with life is evident in each one of the 18 essays and stories in this collection.

Marina died five days after graduating magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. Her boyfriend, who was neither intoxicated nor speeding, fell asleep at the wheel. The car hit a guardrail and rolled over twice, killing Marina but leaving the driver unhurt. Her parents, Tracy and Kevin Keegan, wanted the state to drop the charges of vehicular homicide against her boyfriend because ‘it would break Marina’s heart’. When he went to court, they stood by his side and the case was dismissed.

Marina’s dream—after hearing novelist Mark Helprin say, during a master’s tea at Yale, that it was virtually impossible to make a living as a writer today—was to become a writer and ‘stop the death of literature’. Published posthumously with the joint effort of her professors, friends, and parents, The Opposite of Loneliness is all that the world will ever get to hear from Marina. It’s unfortunate because Marina, it seems, was a gifted writer. Her essays and stories draw you in and you find yourself tuning the rest of the world out.  

What made the book compelling, for me, was definitely her writing that’s laced with humor. She doesn’t hesitate to make fun of herself and she does so with an enviable ease. In a way that helps you try and accept your own idiosyncrasies a little more. Her writing is also emotional and contemplative, thus forcing you to look at things from different perspectives. An important underlying message of much of her work is that it’s never too late to live a life with joy and meaning. We could all use a little reminder every now and then, couldn’t we?

The Opposite of Loneliness might not be writing at its finest but Marina’s voice is fresh and unpretentious. She wasn’t trying to sound a certain way or writing to impress. Reading her makes you feel she loved to write and so she did with reckless abandon. That makes it even harder to read her but you know, deep down, that hers is a book you will be recommending and revisiting as often as you can.

Essays & Stories

The Opposite of Loneliness

Marina Keegan

Published: 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Language: English

Pages: 208, Paperback

French adventure-comedy film “The Climb” (French: L’ascension) recently popped up as a suggestion on my Netflix profile. More noticeably, a Nepali friend had posted about it on his Facebook wall a little ago, calling it a “beautiful French film which was mostly shot in Nepal.” Strangely, I don’t remember hearing anything about an international film shot in Nepal around 2016, except for Marvel’s “Doctor Strange”. 

The production of  “The Climb” seems to have happened without much hullabaloo and it is a nice experience to watch a foreign movie you’ve never heard about that’s been shot in your country and which features something we Nepalis are all proud of—Mount Everest. Also, as this is not a Hollywood movie, it doesn’t have those weird colored filters that Western movies usually give poor Asian countries. The Climb approaches Nepal naturally, like any other country, and that’s what makes the film beautiful. So you know already that you’re going to read a positive review.

Samy Diakhate (Ahmed Sylla) is a 26-year-old French of Senegalese origin from the Cité des 4000 in La Courneuve. The unemployed young man is madly in love with his childhood friend Nadia (Alice Belaïdi) who he briefly dated back in middle school. Nadia, although reciprocating some of Samy’s affection, is skeptical of his commitment issues. In response, Samy claims he would climb the world’s highest peak to prove himself. Unaware of Samy’s earnestness, Nadia accepts the dare.

So Samy, without any previous training, actually sets out to embark on this perilous journey that his local radio station RJs say will make him the “furthest out black guy on the planet.” As strange as the plot sounds, it is not entirely fictional. The Climb is loosely based on Nadir Dendoune, who became the first French-Algerian to go up Everest in 2008—remarkably, without any experience in mountain-climbing.

As the film progresses, we know climbing the mountain is only half the challenge before Samy. He also has to deal with the ridicule of people around him and all other odds pitted heavily against him. But unlike most things he committed to in the past, this time his resilience stays intact. Unable to afford the trip on his own, Samy even manages to find a sponsor for his Mount Everest sojourn.

The Climb, unlike what its name suggests, is not an out-and-out mountaineering movie—at least not like “Everest” (2015). The ascent here is not only physical but also metaphorical. The challenges before Samy are tough Himalayan terrains but also life’s vissicitudes. And he is at the center of it all, representing the youth of his race, class and region in France.

As for the majestic Everest and its ascent, there is again no Hollywood-like glorification of the journey. Samy is your next-door humorous and affable guy. And that’s how he remains all through the movie. He is not scared to show his fears and his determination is grounded in reality. His adventures are also shown in the most realistic way, making the storytelling feel honest.

The film flies the audience from France and directly lands them in Thamel, the heart of Kathmandu, and then takes them gradually to Everest, a step at a time. This is another of the movie’s interesting features. It shows the whole process of a climber reaching the top of the world, which could be a learning experience even for us who live right below Everest. The various stages of the journey, from Kathmandu to Lukla to Namche Bazar onwards, and the lives of the people from different parts of the world that collide on the trail, are both realistic and fascinating.

Who should watch it?

Instead of unabashedly glorifying Mount Everest as most movies made on the subject do, The Climb offers it a humble tribute. It also low-key glorifies the real heroes of the Himalayas—the Sherpas. The movie itself is a combination of good acting also featuring a small Nepali cast, superb storytelling and brilliant direction. So there’s no reason to miss out on this one over Netflix.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Adventure/Comedy

Actors: Ahmed Sylla, Alice Belaïdi

Director: Ludovic Bernard

Run time: 1h 43mins

Does the world need one more sappy Bollywood romance? Probably not. But is Bollywood still going to come up with silly love stories that have nothing new to offer and are rehashes of what we have already seen a gazillion times? Most definitely. These films will have you rolling your eyes at their mediocrity but you will still be dragged to them like a moth to a flame.

The same holds true for books based on Indian love stories. There are plenty of those out there but the publishing industry keeps coming up with new ones because they know those who like romance will lap them up. (We are a gullible lot.)

‘The Marriage Game’ by Sara Desai is basically a love story of a ‘dashing’ boy (who has unresolved issues) and a ‘beautiful’ girl (who is oblivious to the fact that she’s gorgeous). They initially hate each other and then invariably fall in love. Because, really, isn’t that what happens in real life all the time? Throw in a complication or two and a horde of annoying, supportive, loud relatives and The Marriage Game is your regular Dharma Productions or Yash Raj film.

Here, Desai introduces us to Layla Patel who returns home, from New York, to her family in San Francisco after her boyfriend cheats on her and she is fired from her job. Her dad offers her a chance to make a fresh start and lets her use the space above their family restaurant to set up her own recruitment business. He has leased the space to a corporate downsizing company but he tells her he will take care of it. But he has a heart attack before he’s able to sort things out.

Enters Sam Mehta who pretty much falls in love with Layla at first sight. But things are, of course, far from easy, with Layla having given up on love, Sam’s guilt about not being able to protect his sister from her abusive husband (and thus failing his parents as a son), and the two fighting over who rightfully owns the office space.  

I bought the book because it had a nice cover. I hadn’t even read the blurb. What could go wrong with a book that pretty, I thought. It’s not that I was disappointed by the story. For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of Shah Rukh Khan’s romances, The Marriage Game brings about a strong sense of déjà vu. As predictable and common as the story is, you can’t give up on it because you, thanks to voyeuristic tendencies, want to know how the story reaches its inevitable end.

But Desai’s writing is tedious and the characters aren’t convincing. You feel nothing for Layla and Sam. The jokes don’t make you laugh—they sometimes elicit a chuckle at best. Reading The Marriage Game feels very much like watching a movie. You can literally see the scenes unfolding before your eyes. This book was apparently one of Oprah Magazine’s Most Anticipated Romances of 2020 and though I can’t, for the love of life, understand why, I enjoyed it while it lasted. It’s a fun book to pick up if you want something light to read while sipping on a gin and tonic on a bright sunny afternoon. But if you want a good read, then don’t be swayed by the lovely cover and spend your money on something else.

Fiction

The Marriage Game

Sara Desai

Published: 2020

Publisher: Berkley

Language: English

Pages: 338, Paperback

The staged banter between Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap on Twitter a couple of weeks prior to the release of “AK vs AK” promised the audience this was going to be a brutally humorous film where the two actors roast each other like chicken on a grill. And it is with pleasure that we note that the roast is well done. Very-very well done.

Veteran Bollywood (cameos in Hollywood) actor Anil Kapoor and badass director/writer turned actor Anurag Kashyap play themselves in this dark comedy thriller that has taken netizens aback with shock over how crazily creative the filmmaking team gets.

Penned by Avinash Sampath and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the film’s first noticeable deviation from normal is its cinematography. With mostly handheld shots that follow the characters around from a POV perspective, the film feels like watching a single-camera reality show. There’s a character who’s shooting a documentary on Anurag Kashyap—enough reason for the filmmakers to shoot the whole thing like a documentary, or a mockumentary, if you please.

The film begins with actors Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap—both evidently holding old grudges against each other—getting into a verbal spat in front of a live audience. Sly as he is, Kapoor manages to provoke Kashyap enough to make him throw a glass of water on the actor, which backfires on Kashyap as the audience, the media and the film fraternity boycott him. A raging Kashyap then decides to take revenge on Kapoor by kidnapping his daughter, actress Sonam Kapoor (playing herself), and making Kapoor act in the “most dangerous hostage thriller in cinema” as he tries to find his daughter before daylight—or she dies.

AK vs AK is quick, evenly paced and to my personal liking, not stretched. I am particularly biased towards films that keep to the 90-minute mark and AK vs AK comes at a healthy 1h 48mins. Sampath-Motwane’s screenplay and Kashyap’s dialogues ensure the film keeps its improvisational mood and appears light, when, in reality, there is some serious filmmaking and acting skills in evidence.

For Kashyap, who delivers his best acting performance among the few films he has featured in, AK and AK could be a transition to an acting career. He has given up his roles of writing, direction and producing to others while he channels his inner actor. In a lead role where he gets maximum screen time, he is impressive.

For Anil Kapoor—who has featured in over 100 films in a career spanning over 40 years—AK vs AK is redemption from the recent strings of audacious roles in disasters like “Total Dhamaal”, “Race 3” and “Paagalpanti”. The actor shows the world why he has been steadily successful in his long career and cannot be written off yet. He transitions perfectly into an OTT actor from his previous “Bollywood hero” image and probably for the first time in his career, uses the ‘M@#$***#@’ word. (Hindi version)

The script intentionally makes a mockery of both the lead actors. It takes jibes at their careers and personal lives, using real incidents and anecdotes. The film even features real characters associated with the actors and doesn’t spare even their families. With cameos from Kapoor’s son Harshvardhan Kapoor and producer brother Boney Kapoor, as well as Kashyap’s favorite colleague Nawazuddin Siddiqui (voice only), the film also gives the audience a peek into the behind-the-scenes of Bollywood and the famous Film City.

The only let down, however, is the climax. There is a twist at the end, as one would expect, but the ending is not as grand as the beginning. The film does have a constant pace but on the flip side, fails to build momentum ahead of a fitting finale. But still, it does better than many recent Bollywood ‘blockbusters’ we’ve watched.

Who should watch it?

AK vs AK is a work of art. Although more on the commercial side, the emphasis on creativity and artistry is visibly felt. Thus its a must-watch for movie lovers of all genres.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Dark comedy/thriller

Actors: Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane