BTS stands for Back-to-School!

Summer break was two looong months. In fact, it was more than two. Ten whole weeks that started to seem, especially towards the end of August, like an extended sentence for a crime no one had committed. The  camps  had concluded, mothers’ enthusiasm for organizing play dates had waned, and the kids’ inability to entertain themselves had us all at our wits’end. No wonder then, that all parties were equally  ecstatic to wave goodbye at the bus stop. As one of my friends, a mother of three,  remarked, “Just give me a break, summer break !”

Sipping my tea and ambling through posts on a moms’ group on Facebook, I read one   asking for breakfast-place recommendations.  After seeing off the kids, she and her husband were going out for a ‘celebratory’ brunch. What a great idea! Another mommy on the same group was asking for wine recommendations. At.noon. But hey, I’m not judging. I feel you.

As my two went off to school this morn, I hugged them, kissed the one who still allows me kissing privileges, and  bolted.  Couldn’t and wouldn’t wipe off that ear-to-ear grin, and barely desisted from prancing all the way home from the bus stop.

Now anyone who knows me is also aware that I am anything but a  morning person. Ergo, I was amazed at my early-morning zeal.

Here’s to school year 2019-2020!

BTS : Back to School!

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Hindi Film Review: Badla

It’s not always okay to forgive

‘Badla’, a whodunit starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke and others,  released worldwide in May. The film, a 118-minute roller coaster ride, is replete with unpredictable plot twists and  hairpin turns.  These keep the audience hooked.

Badla, the Hindi word for revenge, is the film’s central theme. Ambition, family, and complexity of marital relationships are other subjects that the movie touches upon. But just about. The characters’ emotional journeys and primordial motives are left to guesswork, as if the writers neglected to put in the required effort.

The director,  Sujoy Ghosh,  has made complex thrillers like Kahaani and Kahaani 2, both of which starred stellar actress Vidya Balan.  Badla  has Tapsee Pannu in a confident turn as Naina Sethi, a rising entrepreneur who is also a wife and mother. She  is involved in  an extramarital relationship with Arjun Joseph, played by Tony Luke. Luke’s rather tepid portrayal of Naina’s illicit lover Arjun makes you wonder why a fiery woman like Naina is risking her family and marriage for this guy.  The inimitable Amitabh Bachchan plays Badal Gupta, UK’s top criminal lawyer who is on the verge of retirement and has taken on this last case only because it is irresistibly challenging. Bachchan is excellent, but repetitive and ordinary dialogues really undermine his portrayal. Furthermore, in the last forty minutes or so, the barrage of what-ifs, and the associated flashbacks, get exhausting. Too plotty.

Since the film is just under two hours long, it is tightly edited.  Cinematography by Avik Mukhopadhyay does justice to the dark crime-thriller genre. Clearly, Sujoy Ghosh’s intent was to involve the audience as co-sleuths in cracking the case. And in that he succeeds. Yet, the penultimate plot twist and contrived ending leaves the viewer feeling shortchanged.

I  give Badla a 2.5 out of 5. Worth a watch? Yes; Compelling must-watch? No; Repeat watch? definitely not.