The Mouse That Roared (1959)

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What is a country to do if its economy suddenly takes a nosedive? What if the country’s sole source of income is a product that’s suddenly no more in demand? Are economic reforms in order? Or a smart political move?

No; I’m not talking a 1950s tale of courage and enterprise in the face of economic disaster (not in the way one would’ve expected, at any rate). Not when you know that the star of this film—in a triple role, too, one of which is a woman—is the inimitable Peter Sellers. And not when you know that it revolves around a fictitious country, supposedly the smallest in the world, which decides that what its economy needs for a turnaround is to declare war on the United States of America.

The way to solvency Continue reading →

Dhool ka Phool (1959)

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Yash Chopra’s debut as a director, Dhool ka Phool is unusual in a lot of ways.

Leela Chitnis, for instance, is not a coughing-her-guts out (or basket-making) pathetic old mum.
The hero and heroine travel by train—and that too in trains that go over bridges—without the train falling into the river or crashing and the protagonist losing their memory in the process. Or being given up for dead.
And two people in love in the first half-hour of the film end up moving on in life and not loving each other till the end of time.

On the flip side, it does have a long-lost mother feeling an inexplicable affection towards a strange boy, who for no reason that he can fathom, instinctively calls her “Ma!” It does have a thunderstorm at the end of a love song, with the expected consequences [read: raging hormones, libido and “Humein aisi galti nahin karni chaahiye thhi”]. And it does have Manmohan Krishna being the goodie-two-shoes who stands up for what is right and righteous.

Manmohan Krishna as Abdul Chaacha in Dhool ka Phool Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Dao

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About two decades back, Thai restaurants were all the rage in Delhi. There was (or so it seemed) one in almost every major market, and a chain—Bangkok Degree 1, 2 and 3—had also set up shop. It looked as if Thai food, with its curry-like flavours, its spice and freshness and obvious points of appeal to Indian palates, was here to stay.
Then there was an odd shift. Every other Oriental restaurant (even those which proclaimed themselves as Chinese) began serving Thai curries and rice. That may have been the only Thai dish on their menus, but it was there, often in a not-at-all-authentic form. And the primarily Thai restaurants retreated into the background, either shutting down or just going downhill.

We have always been very fond of Thai food, so this, of course, was a bit of a blow for us. And there was much excitement when we discovered (on a Facebook foodies group) that a Thai restaurant had opened in Greater Kailash’s N Block Market. Someone who’d eaten there had praised the authenticity of the food, so we were especially keen to check it out. Within hours of hearing about Dao, we’d booked a table for Sunday lunch here with my sister and brother-in-law.

At Dao.

At Dao.

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The Veiled Rebecca and More: Salarjung Museum

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Amongst India’s best-known museums, Hyderabad’s Salarjung has the distinction of being possibly the largest collection of art and artefacts built up by a single man: Mir Yousuf Ali Khan (Salarjung III). The Salarjungs were one of Hyderabad’s most important aristocratic … Continue reading →

The Deccan’s largest necropolis: The Qutb Shahi Tombs

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‘Seven Tombs’—the name by which this tomb complex in Hyderabad, one of the city’s major heritage attractions, is known—is very deceptive. Firstly, because while the large tombs, those of various rulers of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, do total up to seven, there are dozens of other tombs, of everybody from dancers to physicians to queens. And more, making this possibly the largest necropolis in the Deccan. Secondly, there aren’t just tombs in this complex; there are also several other types of buildings.

The tomb of Hayat Baksh Begum.

The tomb of Hayat Baksh Begum.

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