My 3 Most Favourite Novels and Films
3 of my most favourite novels include:
- Humayun Ahmed's "Jochona O Jononir Golpo" - Belonging to the semi-autobiographical and war memoir genre, this is easily one of my favourites. A lot of parallel stories take place here, in the setting of the events before, during and in the twilight of our war of liberation in 1971. I like this novel because of the way the plot advances the whole time. For example, the writer tends to add real-life incidents and testimonies from the direct observers/victims of those dark days, mixing them up with the fictional storyline. One of his finest novels, Humayun Ahmed even adds excerpts from his own life during that time, what he felt, etc. A must-read for every Bangladeshi at heart.
- Shomoresh Mojumder's "Din Jai Raat Jai" - This is a novel which belongs to the anti-romantic genre, which tells us about a couple who faces the hardships of life from society, as well as from forces they did not even anticipate - themselves. As the story advances, we come to see that the husband takes a forceful stand against his wife, whom he patronizes at every instance, thus alluding to the real life social setbacks women suffer at the hands of the very people she trusts. I like this story because of its realistic touch, which at the end, does make us think about where we stand against domestic violence.
- Sidney Sheldon's "The Doomsday Conspiracy" - A thriller from one of the most popular story-tellers of the world, the story tells us about Robert Bellamy, a man hired by NSA to find out the whereabouts of several bus passengers in Switzerland who had witnessed a top-secret UFO object. As he successfully finds them and interviewing them, they turn up dead, only after meeting with him. He gathers pace, even after he knows that he himself may be the next victim. Nobody can tell a story like Sidney Sheldon, and this one is no different.
My 3 favourite films:
- Jab We Met: A romantic-comedy directed by the debuting director Imtiaz Ali, the story tells us about Aditya Kashyap (Shahid Kapoor) and Geet Dhillon (Kareena Kapoor,) about how they actually met and their subsequent encounters. The story is simple, does not stretch more than required, and at the end of the day, gives us what the audience wants the most - a heart-melting happy ending. Intense performances from the entire ensemble leave a lasting impression on all of us.
- Home Alone: A Christmas family-comedy directed by John Hughes which tells the story of the famous Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) who is accidentally left behind from his family's Christmas tour in France, and how he handles living alone for the first time. This was one of the most popular movie series of the time we were little children (close to the Terminator or Rambo series,) which we all remember and do not feel bored to watch it again and again.
- Black Friday - Based on a true story, the story of the film takes place before, during and mostly after the events of the 1993 serial bombings in Bombay (now Mumbai.) This crime drama looks at the masterminds behind the bombings, how they used psychological brainwashing as a tactic to recruit potential bombers and how those bombers eventually got caught by the police. The film sets to look at the mental conditions of those bombers, how they were recruited and trained, and later on, how they were tortured into spilling out all the details. The USP of the film happens to be the acting of the 4 major characters, Commissioner Rakesh Maria (played by Kay Kay Menon,) Badshaah Khan (played by Aditya Shrivastav,) Tiger Memon (Pawaan Malhotra) and Dawood Ibrahim (played by Vijay Maurya.) One of the most underrated films of 2007, the film portrayed the criminals Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim as menacingly as Amjad Khan had portrayed Gabbar Singh in "Sholay."
