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No garment is perhaps as controversial as the headscarf. Many women choose to wear it—it signifies who they are and what their culture means to them. In an interview, Pakistani writer Sabyn Javeri said that women wear the hijab for different reasons—some to be able to move around freely, without scrutiny, and others to assert religious identity. There are also women who actually feel sheltered by the headscarf. But a large part of the society sees it as a patriarchal conditioning of women.

It is this idea of the headscarf and what it stands for—which is unique to each woman—that Javeri explores in her collection of short stories, ‘Hijabistan’.  The 16 short stories also delve into what it means to be a woman—more specifically a Muslim woman searching for identity—and the hijab is used as a metaphor. Set across Pakistan and London, the stories aren’t only about a piece of clothing. They are about the desires and dreams of women in different circumstances and of what they are capable of doing.

‘The Adulteress’ is about a woman torn between her sense of duty and desires. ‘Under the Flyover’ is about a married couple sneaking in some private moments before heading home to their crowded flat. In ‘The Hijab and Her’, a Pakistani exchange student in America gets picked on by her professor during a discussion on post-colonialism which leads to her choosing a different path in life. In another story, a British Muslim girl is on her way to Syria, contemplating the jihad.

Some stories are also about the struggles an immigrant faces while trying to fit in and staying true to one’s roots. For instance, in ‘The Good Wife’ the protagonist tries to assert her identity by wearing a hijab and ‘Only in London’ is about reinvention of the self by not dressing as the Muslim religion mandates. 

Javeri’s prose is smooth and her writing empathetic. None of the stories feel unnecessarily drawn out or pretentious. You will be able to relate with the many characters in the anthology whose age range from 13 to 50. Some stories might feel a little off but you are never bored or disappointed.

Rather, these are stories that make you think—about women who have kept quiet for far too long and all the sacrifices they are forced to make, for their families, in the name of religion, and simply because they are women.

Hijabistan is Javeri’s second book. Her first, ‘Nobody Killed Her’, published in 2017, was a fictionalized tale of a female prime minister’s assassination.  

Short Stories

Hijabistan

Sabyn Javeri

Published: 2019

Publisher: Harper Collins

Language: English

Pages: 216, Paperback

Any Indian cinema connoisseur will tell you that when Sudhir Mishra directs a film, it’s more than entertainment. It is a political statement laden with jest, jive and satire on contemporary Indian society, which in turn more or less represents the multi-cultural peoples of the Indian subcontinent. The director, who has previously made socially compelling movies like “Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi,” “Dharavi,” and “Chameli,” continues his storytelling of the real people in his latest release “Serious Men.”

Serious Men—based on Indian journalist Manu Joseph’s book by the same name—is a Hindi-language comedy-drama that skillfully touches issues of caste divide, economic disparity, proselytism, political interferences in the common man’s life, and the burden of education placed on today’s children—all centered on the family of Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

Ayyan is middle-aged Tamil who lives in Mumbai with his wife Oja Mani (Indira Tiwari) and son Adi Mani (Aakshath Das). Coming from an underprivileged shudra caste, Ayyan has been facing hardships and discriminations all his life owing to his caste and financial status. But despite his more than humble beginnings, Ayyan has managed to educate himself and get a ‘respectable job’.

So while he works as an assistant to astronomer Dr. Arvind Acharya (Nassar) at the National Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, Ayyan dreams his son will elevate their status by getting higher education and becoming a famous scholar. Having been called “moron,” “imbecile,” and “knob-head” all the time by ‘serious men’ at work, Ayyan wants his son to be one of them—educated, rich, and powerful.

Ayyan’s son Adi does turn out to be a child genius of sorts. The 10-year-old with a slight hearing impairment can solve the most difficult scientific problems and calculate fast as a machine. Adi’s abilities catch the attention of the media as well as the local politicians who want to use him to promote their upcoming election campaign. Ayyan and Adi seemingly enjoy the attention they have been getting and make public appearances at various programs, to show off Adi’s skills. But what unfolds next changes the whole film narrative. It turns out that the father-son duo has a big secret, the leakage of which could alter their lives forever.

The story of Serious Men revolves around different aspects of discrimination that a poor, socially underprivileged family has to face, and their extra struggle to break their centuries-old shackles. Ayyan’s battle with casteism and poverty has made him callous to the feelings of his own wife and child. The burden of being poor and underprivileged he has carried all his life makes him take drastic steps to change the situation.

Even with so many underlying themes that affect Ayyan and his family’s life, the storytelling in Serious Men is coherent and enjoyable throughout its 1hrs 54mins length. Mishra’s tight script is adequately supported by the acting of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Aakshath Das. Both—the former a seasoned star and the latter just a newcomer—get into their respective characters and justify their casting with ease. Getting most screen time in the movie, Siddiqui and Das add strength to the already strong screenplay and help Mishra create another set of memorable characters.

Who should watch it?

Serious Men is a movie for all those looking for more than just entertainment in cinema. It is a movie people will relate to in one way or other, and readily identify the characters as people they know.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Run time: 1hr 54mins

Actors: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Aakshath Das

Director: Sudhir Mishra

When making chai, at first, you have your ingredients sorted out. To make a strong cuppa we drink in this part of the world, you have your leaves, water, milk, sugar, and maybe some masala to add to the flavor. Anything beyond that will most likely spoil your chai, instead of enhancing its taste.

This is exactly what happens to “Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare” being streamed on Netflix from September 18 this year. It has enough ingredients to make it a fine cup of chai, but the filmmakers keep adding to the concoction, somewhat spoiling the taste.

Written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced under the banner of Indian visual-media mogul Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare circles around the lives of Radha "Dolly" Yadav (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Kajal “Kitty” Yadav (Bhumi Pednekar). With these two women as main characters, the film narrates the struggles of women for independence, the sexism they have to face in both their personal and professional lives, the harassment they are subjected to, the restrictions put on them by the society, and with the help of a child Pappu (Kalp Shah) also shows the struggle of a non-binary person to be accepted in their middle-class South Asian family.

As already mentioned, the film has many subplots but at the same time it is not unimaginably chaotic. Alankrita Shrivastava, who also penned and directed the Filmfare-nominated “Lipstick Under My Burkha” (2017) among other socially compelling films, misses the cinematic benchmark it created by only a few points in this 2hrs 6mins long drama. Meaning, the film is an entertaining package despite its overcompensating subplots.

Dolly (Sharma) lives in Noida with her husband Amit (Aamir Bashir) and two sons Bharat (Hearty Singh) and Pappu (Shah). The middle-class family is desperately saving up to upgrade to a luxury apartment, with Dolly even stealing from her employers and selling her jewelries to pay for installments, unbeknownst to her husband. Kitty (Pednekar)—Dolly’s cousin from rural Bihar—has come to live with the family temporarily while she tries to be financially independent so that her family doesn’t force her to get married.

The film starts with Kitty complaining to her elder sister Dolly about her husband Amit making unwanted sexual advances towards her. Shaken, but still adamant about her ‘perfect life’, Dolly at first writes it off as a misunderstanding and then lightly accuses Kitty of wanting to sleep with Amit because of her infatuation. Uncomfortable, Kitty seeks urgently to find a decent job and move out of the house.

Thus begins a flurry of conflicts for the two women as Dolly confronts the reality of her loveless, passionless marriage, and the seemingly naïve Kitty gets to see the world for what it is. The two women battle harassment, sexism, patriarchy, and their own conflicted selves in this coming-of-age film where a number of other characters come into their lives to make them question their identities and help them reveal the reality.

But despite many supporting characters and subplots, it is up to Konkona Sen Sharma and Bhumi Pednekar to carry the film on their shoulders, which they do with great conviction. Both the actors, criminally underrated in the industry, deliver a realistic performance which the audience can relate to.

Who should watch it?

A 700-word review is not enough to explain the various emotions that “Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare” evokes. Despite feeling overwhelmed at times with so many inputs, the movie definitely hooks the audience throughout and the messaging is clear and concise. Almost near the end, Dolly makes the perfect cup of chai for herself and relishes it. We are sure most of our audience will relish the movie the same way.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: Drama

Actors: Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar

Director: Alankrita Shrivastava

Runtime: 2hrs 6 mins

Depression and, by extension, mental illnesses have been discussed quite a lot in recent years, with many Bollywood celebrities (cue in Deepika Padukone) talking about their experiences and/or supporting different causes related to it. In Nepal too, it wouldn’t be wrong to say there is a lot more awareness about mental health and the importance of a healthy mind now than ever before, though we are still far from normalizing mental health issues. Shaheen Bhatt’s ‘I’ve Never Been (Un)Happier’ could help us do just that by giving us a clear insight into the mind of someone living with anxiety and depression. 

I’ve Never Been (Un)Happier is a candid account of the author’s traumatic emotional experiences and battles with a mental condition that feels debilitating. Shaheen was diagnosed with depression when she was 18 when she had already been living with it for five years. Till then, she didn’t have a name for why she felt so sad and hollow most of the time, despite not having any reason for it.

As filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter, one would think her fairly privileged lifestyle would warrant a happy life. But Shaheen says her pain doesn’t come to her because of her lifestyle and neither is it taken away because of it.

Yes, growing up, she had a comfortable life (though not a lavish one as most would believe because “filmmakers in the 90s didn’t exactly break the bank”). Financial security meant she could seek the support she needed. But her family background came with its own pressures. She was surrounded by famous, successful, and ambitious people but on some days her ambition would simply be to get herself to leave her bedroom.

Shaheen hasn’t sugarcoated or downplayed anything and the brutal honesty with which she writes makes the book unputdownable. What I especially liked about the book is how easy it is to read, and thus grasp. Shaheen doesn’t beat about the bush or make excuses for her behavior. Her “it is what it is” attitude helps you connect with the author and feel for her, even if you haven’t been through similar experiences.

Time and again, Shaheen shows you other vulnerable sides to her—being unable to attend classes, her relationship with food and the subsequent weight gain, and comparing herself to her older half-sibling Pooja—who was working in films when Shaheen was growing up—as well as her younger sister, Alia—who, she says, was effortlessly charming even as a child. There are also instances when you feel she is having an intimate conversation with you. You can relate to many of her experiences and Shaheen becomes a friend you have always secretly wished for.

I would highly recommend this slim book because it has the power to bring about some much-needed change in perspective on depression and mental health.

Non-fiction

I’ve Never Been (Un)Happier

Shaheen Bhatt

Published: 2019

Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Language: English

Pages: 165, Paperback