Peaky Blinders

My weekend binge:
I disregarded health issues once again, and fell for the lure of weekend binge yet again. My apologies to my body. But my heart just went wild with ecstasy, couldn't help it.
Had heard so much about it, had heard that the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are fans of the series.
Was finally able to catch it....
yes, I'm talking about 'Peaky Blinders',
it would be an understatement to say that the series is brilliant;
well, it can't get better than this!

Best mini-series watched this year

The best television mini-series watched this year is undoubtedly 'A Young Doctor's Notebook'. It stars Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm, playing the different versions of the same character, the lead protagonist.

Horror redefined

'American Horror Story' is twisted, shocking, gross, and yet it connects emotionally, and it is indeed very scary........ it is horror redefined, for television viewers, especially for those who have a craving for the genre and who love being scared crazy.

Nicolas Le Floch

It is a television series that has had me enraptured.
And it is in French, a language which I do not follow.
I have to rely solely on the subtitles, yet it is so very exciting!
Set in the shadow of the big and small events that characterize the history of 18th Century France, the series features Nicolas Le Floch, the fictional hero from the detective novels of Jean-François Parot, who happens to be the young Marquis of Ranreuil and Police Commissioner at the Châtelet. The tales are of sordid crime and passion, laced with intrigue and depravity, romance and mystery, and above all a historical grandeur of the times which were an admixture of the best and the worst.
Aired on TV5 Monde Asie, the Asian counterpart of the French channel, on Monday nights, the series has me wondering why the whole world isn't buzzing about its charm. Absolutely recommended, for adults only.

A journey.... a dream..... a revolution

Satyamev Jayate has become the television series responsible for changing not only the history of Indian television, but also bringing about changes amidst us, and in our selves. A reality series need not be scoffed at henceforth, not if it has the best intentions to usher positive social change, not even if it is aired on Sunday mornings in the slot which used to be referred to as the graveyard shift.
Aamir Khan has not just made a television series, he has helped us Indians envision a dream. Countless Indians have embarked on a journey that promises not to end with the culmination of the show (the series - many are already calling it the Season 1, expecting a Season 2 very soon - has just concluded a fortnight back), rather Aamir himself has said that it is the very beginning of the journey. Miles to go in the direction of total upliftment, equity and progress; the hurdles are too many, but the will to tackle them all has received a huge impetus. We are all passionate about our country, about the dream to make India a nation to be truly proud of; it would be a feat for us all to see the tears wiped off for good, to have teeming millions smiling for a better today and a promising tomorrow.
I would say that the show has revolutionized Indian television. I had been hugely apprehensive of the impact that the uniquely formatted show could have. So what if the show had a powerhouse anchor like Aamir Khan who was having his TV debut...... who expected masses to be awakened from their slumber to sit up and take note of the serious problems confronted by the citizens across the length and breadth of the country! I am pleasantly surprised to see the landmark response and the appeal generated by the same. People have not only been moved, charged by the vigor to harbinger positive changes, but opinions have been mobilized like never before! Unprecedented success has been garnered by the series, for which one must recognize the contribution of (apart from Aamir himself, the key-figure) the production house (Aamir Khan Productions Pvt. Ltd.), its entire team, especially the fabulous and in-depth research carried out by the research team, and, of course, the vision and perseverance of director Satyajit Bhatkal.

May the journey continue, may the dream reach fruition in the best possible way, may this revolution to make India a better nation in every way gain momentum each day - that is what I pray as we celebrate the 65th Independence Day of India.

Good and Bad.....

There's no good or bad in this world;

it's the thinking that makes it so.

What people call SUFFOCATION in a local train

becomes ATMOSPHERE at a night club!

A child, on a farm, sees a plane fly overhead & dreams of flying -

but the pilot, on the plane, sees the farmhouse & dreams of returning home.

That's life!

Happy Halloween! 'The Vampire Diaries'

Let me admit, this is a special Halloween post.

Today is Halloween, and I seek to celebrate the ghouls and the ghoulish,

and all things supernatural, as they fascinate me since childhood,

for purposes of entertainment, nothing else though......

no serious spooky business here,

but just doffing my hat to the television series which I've been hooked to, of late:

The Vampire Diaries.

Frankly speaking, the series did not quite grab my eyeballs when the First Season was aired.

I thought it catered more to the sensibilities and tastes of the teenagers, and that too mostly the girls, who can't have enough of the love-related complexities along the soap-fodder lines.

I did skip most of the episodes therein. However, as the Second Season started airing (the deferred telecast in India, on Zee Cafe), I had to revise my initial reservations on the content.

I am not going to delve into the details of the storyline or the numerous sub-plots, because I expect this post to be read and appreciated only by the afficionados of the series. For the uninitiated: It's a supernatural series which primarily is about a high school girl who's loved by two vampire brothers, who are about 150 years old.

The characters go through more than the usual share of thrills and chills that are expected in a tale of this genre. The complications in love take a backseat in the Second Season, thankfully, as it concentrates more on the digressions and the twists & counter twists that involve the heroine's doppelganger and her machinations, and also reveals, purportedly, the main villain.

Elena - the heroine - as well as Katherine, the doppelganger, are played by Nina Dobrev. While the vampire brothers Damon and Stefan are played by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley respectively. Jeremy, Elena's brother, is played by Steven R. McQueen. Some of the other interesting members of the cast are: Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig, Kat Graham, Matt Davis and Taylor Kinney.

The actors have become hugely popular, endeared by millions of fans worldwide.

Expectedly so, as that is exactly how television makes people famous overnight.

Anyways, today, I'd like to say a few words just about my favorite character from the series: Mason Lockwood, played by Taylor Kinney. In fact, I started watching the series (later I caught up with the earlier episodes online though) because of him.

Mason's character isn't even a pivotal one, though he plays an integral role in the progression & turn of events. Taylor Kinney had, in fact, just a string of guest appearances. Yet, I loved the depth in the character, the potential that had probably been unleashed by the actor and not so much by the script.

When Mason dies in the series, I felt shattered. Well, almost. A case of suspension of pure disbelief, I guess. 

Mason was Tyler's uncle (Tyler being the high school football jock and Elena's friend). He has been described as Tyler's 'cool' uncle; sexy, athletic and with an easygoing charm.

He returns to Mystic Falls (where Elena and his friends live) after seven years. He reveals to Tyler the Lockwood curse, which had been kept a secret from him; he does so after a dramatic confrontation.

Mason flips in an instant if crossed; it struck me as an interesting character trait.

He is in love with Katherine; eager to do anything for her......

.......yet he does not trust her in a blindly. He's torn by his own demons.

Mason genuinely shows concern for his nephew, Tyler.......

.......but he has his own agenda too, which he's focused on.

Truth be told: Mason's a werewolf!

Mason finds himself vulnerable and insecure because of his cursed identity.

He finds in Damon, his biggest enemy...... his nemesis.

After all, vampires and werewolves can't expected to be friends!!!!

A bite from a werewolf can be fatal for a vampire, hence the persecution.

It is Damon who finally captures him and kills him by ripping his heart out.

Surprise, suprise: Mason returns as a ghost in Season Three (it shows how Taylor Kinney cannot be ousted from the series, his fans won't take it lying down..... hahaha) and he is determined to make Damon pay for killing him.

And, spoiler alert for the ones who are yet to catch the goings on in Season Three,

Mason tortures Damon much in a way that he himself had been tortured but he lets him live.

Mason reveals that, among the Lockwood family's dark secrets, was a way to kill an Original vampire. Mason and Damon head to the Lockwood cellar where they break into a hidden part of it. Damon still refuses to trust Mason but when Mason saves him from the vervain spikes that pierce Damon, he tells him that he doesn't care about revenge: he wants redemption and he wants to help Tyler.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Getting Slushied

Getting slushied is commonplace for the members of the Glee club, in the popular tele-series 'Glee'. Many might find it irritating how shakes and slushies are randomly thrown at on the Glee guys and girls in the first and the second seasons of the series, but it is indeed a fun way to represent the bullying stereotypes that almost all of us commonly experience in life, in some form or the other.

Bullying is, in fact, a problem all over. Schools are the breeding grounds and the practice is continued with gusto by the bullies in colleges too, and it gets diversified further, and becomes multi-pronged, multi-dimensional and even multi-participative.

I think, 'Glee' raises a fundamental issue and colors it & exaggerates with fun and banter, and packages it with all the ingredients of mass appeal, but the underlying message is never lost.

In the storyline, the Glee club is shown as the most unpopular group, for having dared to go against the grain, by embracing song & dance, and it is largely the alpha-male student population which targets the club with its extreme bullying antics. The slushying sequences, later, have become nothing short of a trademark for the show and have added spunk to its theme of celebrating one's true self by rising above petty opposition, and by winning over the brute forces through a display of sheer talent & histrionics, getting noticed, and gaining acceptance.

Here, Artie, perceived as the 'dork' in the wheelchair, gets slushied badly.......

.....and, yet, he strongly empathizes with the faith: Be Who You Are, Be Proud!

The skewed lure of 'Dexter'

Just through with watching the first five seasons of the television series 'Dexter' on Star World.
It is one of the most gripping tele-serials in recent times and has been a huge hit all over the world, and it is impossible to stay indifferent to its charm.
American crime-drama series forms the staple diet of most of the television viewers across the world because, besides being well-produced, well-scripted & well-acted, these tap on the universal craving for an exploration of the darker recesses of human psyche. 'Dexter' goes one step ahead and toys with the saint-sinner tagging and has as the eponymous protagonist a forensic bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro police department who moonlights as a serial-killer.


In America, the series had debuted in 2006. But here, in India, we have been shown it this year, all the five seasons, back to back, on week-nights, with repeats on weekends. However, most viewers who got hooked to it have made sure that they catch the episodes online, as scenes and dialogues had to filtered for the telecast in the sub-continent, owing to excessive violence and profanity. In fact, the content and the violent images have been the bone of contention for the purists, and for many a social-analyst, not just in these parts of the world but in the West as well.


The first season was largely based on the novel 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' by Jeff Lindsay, the fisrt of his series of Dexter novels. The subsequent seasons have largely evolved in an independent manner. The key scripting was done by James Manos, Jr. The principal cast features Micahel C. Hall (in the title role), Jennifer Carpenter, James Remar, Lauren Velaz, David Zayas, C. S. Lee, Julie Benz, Erik King, and Desmond Harrington. Also, Margo Martindale, Christian Camargo, Anne Ramsay, Valerie Cruz, Jonny Lee Miller, Jimmy Smits, Keith Carradine, Julia Stiles and John Lithgow are some of the big draws who have had supporting roles or guest appearances.


It is pointless to introduce the plot-line to those who are unaware of this phenomenal series. Yet, here it is, the germ of it all: Dexter is orphaned at the age of three due to the murder of his mother in front of his eyes, and is then adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan. After discovering that the young boy has been killing a multitude of neighborhood pets, Harry tells Dexter that he believes the need to kill got into him, and that he believes Dexter's need to kill will only grow. To keep Dexter from killing innocent people and winding up in an electric chair, Harry begins teaching Dexter The Code, whereby his victims must be killers themselves who have killed someone without justifiable cause and will likely do so again. Flashbacks throughout the series show Harry, who died several years before, instructing Dexter on how to fake human behavior, how to cover his tracks after a kill. Dexter has followed The Code religiously to satisfy his Dark Passenger - the name he has assigned to his urge to kill. Like many serial killers, he keeps trophies - before dispatching a wrongdoer, he makes a small incision on their right cheek with a scalpel and collects a blood sample, which he preserves on a blood slide & stores in a box concealed inside his air conditioner. Dexter has a skewed logic that he is in denial of and it is this logic or rationale that actually makes us question what's justified and what's not. Dexter's private life, his being lovelorn, his secrets tumbling out - make interesting viewing, as do his exploits, his kills.

GLEE - Unleashing the Inner Loser!

"Glee" is the brand new show on Star World that has captured

the imagination of the young and old, in India....

and, especially, here, in Kolkata.

"Glee" is in the musical-drama genre, which itself is a new concept for us,

as far as English language television series is concerned.....

yet, it is something that all of us fed the regular dose of Indian films laden with songs and dances are well acquainted with.

We love the drama, we love the excesses, and we love the deeper conflicts resolved in a naturally liberating manner that has an easy charm.

The series is originally aired, in the United States, on Fox, and the first season had started there last September. But, in India, the series is just about to have the first season finale.

We have woken up late, but with a lot of fervor and glee!

A brief intro for the uninitiated:

The plot focuses on a high school show choir (a modern glee club) called New Directions, at the fictional William McKinley High Schoolin Lima, Ohio.

The show, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, features select music with popular appeal and chart hits. The song covers are essentially sung onscreen by the characters themselves. Choreographed by Zach Woodlee, the show features five to eight production numbers per episode.

There are twelve main roles with star billing. Matthew Morrison plays Will Schuester, a Spanish teacher, who becomes director of the glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory. Jane Lynch plays Sue Sylvester, head coach of the Cheerios cheerleading squad, and the Glee Club's arch-nemesis. Jayma Mays appears as Emma Pillsbury, the school's mysophobic guidance counselor who has feelings for Will, and Jessalyn Gilsig plays Terri Schuester, Will's wife of five years. Lea Michele plays Rachel Berry, talented star of the glee club who is often bullied by the Cheerios and football players. Cory Monteith plays Finn Hudson, star quarterback of the school's football team who risks alienation by his friends to join the glee club. Also in the club are Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones, a fashion-conscious diva who resents having to sing back-up; Colfer as Kurt Hummel—a gay male soprano; Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams, a guitar player and paraplegic; and Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang, an Asian American student with a fake speech impediment.Mark Salling plays Noah Puck Puckerman, a friend of Finn's on the football team who at first disapproves of Finn joining the glee club, but later joins the glee club himself. Dianna Agron plays Quinn Fabray, Finn's cheerleader girlfriend, who too joins the club later.

'Malgudi Days' - Revisiting My Favorite Serial

Malgudi Days remains an all-time favorite television series, of not only me, but I am sure it is so for millions of viewers worldwide. Produced under the banner of Padamrag TV International, by T. S. Narasimhan, and directed by Shankar Nag & Kavitha Lankesh, the series was based on the acclaimed works of the eminent Indian author and novelist R. K. Narayan.
It was originally aired on Doordarshan, way back in 1986.
However, the thirty-nine episodes then telecast became so immensely popular, as evident in the several re-runs (even in the dsatellite channels after they came into being), that the project was revived in 2004, and telecast in 2006. Though the original series had been helmed by Shankar Nag, the revived series was made by Kavita Lankesh as the former had passed away. The series was spun from various stories of R. K. Narayan and many of them were just one episode long. That made the series all the more laudable. The stories - though now part of the Malgudi anthology - were actually taken from the books A Horse and Two Goats, Malgudi Days, Swamy and Friends and Vendor Of Sweets.

Malgudi happens to be a fictitious small town in South India. It has the typical characteristics of any small town or village, and is habituated by timeless characters who could be living anywhere in the world, there is something universally appealing in that; an innocence; a simplicity; a humane depiction of life as such.
The lives of the simple folks of Malgudi has been dealt in an uniquely engaging manner, with delightful humor. The highlight of the series was its specific as well as generic appeal. The characters come alive with their idiosyncrasies, their typicalities, their inconsistencies, and their warmth.
R. K. Narayan drew on his observance of human life to create the magic in his Malgudi tales. And in the transcreation for television it was as much an accomplishment.

I am thankful to Big Home Video who have compiled the entire series in an attractive DVD/VCD box-set for the connoisseurs, and I am thankful to my sister for gifting me the grand opportunity to revisit my favorite tele-series. I am sure that it would be lapped up by all the fans of the series, and would also open up a new vista of entertainment who haven't warmed up to the magic of Malgudi on television. I recall that some years back at Nandan, here, in Kolkata, there was a screening of the segment called 'Swamy & Friends' from the series and the show had an overwhelming response.
The entire series has now been given a new lease of life thanks to the video packaging. We can once again hum the amazing title track that had been composed by L. Vaidyanathan; till date it remains one of the best title scores ever! Sharang Dev was the other composer, he had scored the music for the segment 'Swamy and Friends'. Shot entirely near Agumbe in Shimoga district of Karnataka, the visuals were exceptionally rich in terms of their texturing, as far as as television productions are concerned. The sketches that graced the title cards were done by R. K. Laxman (acclaimed cartoonist, and the brother of the novelist R. K. Narayan). The cast includes Girish Karnad, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Ananth Nag and many other established actors, and has young Manju Nath essaying the role of Swamy.
The DVD pack consists of two DVDS whereas the VCD pack has eighteen discs. The tales that are featured are namely: Swamy and Friends, Vendor of Sweets, Sweets for Angels, Salt & Sawdust, The Antidote, Minister without Portfolio, The Snake Song, Dodu, Sidda, Mandir ka Budda, Chowkidar, Naga, Doctor's Word, Lawley Road, Muni, Dhakiya, Maha Kanjus, Hero, Annamalai, Engine ki Kahani, Iswaran, Govind Singh ki Bhent, 45 Rupaiya, Aaya, Rome ka Moorthy, The Performing Child, Career, Trail of the Green Blazer, Four Rupees, Neighbour's Help, Astrologer's Day, The Gold Belt, Nitya, and The Seventh House.

SUPERNATURAL: It's All in the Family!!!!!!!!!!

Here's doffing my hat at a favorite television series of mine: SUPERNATURAL.
Honestly speaking, I did not warm up to it at first.... had thought that it is all about the spooky effects and the dishy actors Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles, and hence was prejudicially dismissive.
But lately, as I caught up with some of the episodes on AXN, I have found it to be quite fascinating!


I made it a point to watch the entire series, as released till date, on video. I have to say, unashamedly, that I found it rather gripping.
Here's the premise, in a nut-shell:
Twenty-three years ago, Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) had lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. Subsequently, their father John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) raised them to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America...and he taught them how to kill it.
Sam and Dean spent their lives on the road, cruising America's highways in their 1967 Chevy Impala, battling supernatural threats and searching for the demon that killed their mother. Together with their father, they closed in on that demon. A bloody battle ensued, and the demon killed John before escaping.
Grieving the death of their father, the brothers' mission to kill the demon - and every other evil creature along the way - continued. Meanwhile, they began to learn troubling details about Sam. They discovered that the demon they were hunting had a special plan with Sam at its center: to free hundreds of demons from hell, creating an unstoppable demonic army, and to make Sam the leader of that army. Horrified by its plan, the Winchester brothers fought the demon. In a climactic battle, they finally brought the demon down, but at a terrible cost. They were unable to stop the demon from unleashing three hundred powerful demons from hell. And in a shocking turn of events, Sam was killed in the fight.

Unable to go on without his brother, Dean made the ultimate sacrifice. He summoned a deal-making Crossroads Demon and exchanged his soul for the life of his brother. The deal brought Sam back to life-but left Dean with a single year to live.
Now, Sam and Dean face all-out demonic war. And as they work to stem the rising tide of demonic activity, they continue to travel the country, battling the supernatural wherever they go: changelings, cursed objects, vampires, witches, malevolent spirits, even a very un-merry Anti-Claus. Dean's clock is ticking, with Hell awaiting him in less than a year's time. Meanwhile, Sam still faces the fallout of the slain demon's plan to make him leader of the gathering demonic army. Wrestling many new questions about his destiny, Sam must uncover the dark secrets buried within his own past and within his family's history. And he must find a way to save his brother.