Book Review- Bravely Fought the Queen

BRAVELY FOUGHT THE QUEEN
AUTHOR: Mahesh Dattani
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0143062077
ISBN-13: 9780143062073, 978-0143062073
NO. OF PAGES: 100
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED IN 2006 BY PENGUIN BOOKS INDIA
MRP: Rs.99 

BOOK COVER SAYS: First staged in Mumbai in 1991, Bravely Fought the Queen juggles between two spaces centre stage where an empirical drama removes the mask of hypocrisy from a seemingly normal urban household; and a small, rear backdrop from where emerges the raison d être of each protagonist. 
The family in focus is that of two brothers, Jiten and Nitin, who run an advertising agency and are married to sisters: Dolly and Alka. Their mother, Baa, moves between the two households, attached more to her memories of the past than to any present reality. Marital friction, sibling rivalry, the traditional tension between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law, the darker moments of business and personal dealings, the play takes us through the entire gamut of emotional experience as it winds to a climactic finish. 
With its relentless pace, crisp idiom and unflinching insight into the urban milieu, this is a play that confirms Mahesh Dattani s reputation as India s most influential playwright. 


EXCERPT:  "Lalitha: You stunt their growth. You keep trimming the roots and bind their branches...you've got to make sure,the roots don't have enough space to spread..."


SWARNALI SPEAKS:  Mahesh Dattani challenges many universal questions regarding traditional and stereotyped gender roles in his plays. Through his plays Dattani explores the multiple facets of human relationships and their validity in today's world. Many of the subjects that he chooses cannot be comfortably or directly discussed in an orthodox social milieu as in India. Issues like incest,lechery,female subjugation amongst others are strongly condemned in India in public and Dattani very tactfully raises his voice on these social taboos in an oblique manner through a plethora of symbols.

In this particular play,Dattani takes the title from the famous lines of a Hindi poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, that all Indians are sure to have heard in childhood-

" Khub ladi mardani woh toh Jhansi wali Rani thi " (translated-"Bravely fought the manly queen of Jhansi")

The very first time I saw the book,it was the title which caught my attention. I couldn't help but be reminded of the same poem. Intrigued how a contemporary playwright could have used the same lines to tell a tale in the modern world,I picked it up and I can happily say I don't regret my decision!! I was so addicted after reading this one that i couldn't help myself from reading all his other plays and they are equally good. 

This book is an amazing read especially if you are an Indian and if you are appalled by the hypocrisy in everyday things in the society. A very fast moving plot makes you feel like you are actually watching the play being performed infront of your eyes and you are yourself a character in it. The title or book cover may suggest a feminist idea being propagated but I assure you that is not the only thing or issue being addressed in the book. This is not a light book as it may keep haunting you for several days as it did to me. The light hearted family talks in the first two acts take a sudden turn in the final act and the reader or viewer is left open mouthed as slowly everything is revealed. Dattani does a brilliant job in cleverly hiding the final surprises/shocks. A must read for all.

MY RATING: 5/5

Sketches

Has it ever happened to you that you can do a few things best only at sudden impulses???

It happened to me quite many a times. People,things around me,anime inspire me to turn them immortal,not that I can make them everlasting by my amateur attempts,but the whole idea of giving anything  immortality by preserving them in art tempts me to sketch them. I have noticed that if I don't sketch the thing the very moment I get the impulse,I can't do it ever. Also,I have never been successful in replicating a sketch that I made. It somehow turns out to be very different from the original one,which is very irritating.

Here are a few examples of those impulsive attempts-

This was done during a very boring class and I didn't feel like listening to the professor (who was incidentally teaching us Blake's Tyger!! That is what I call mother of coincidence :P),so I decided to sketch the drawing printed on the back cover of my notebook. Did you notice how the first line of the poem is used to make the face of the tiger?? The creativity of this one was too tempting to resist.

This one was a water color painting, printed on the cover of one of my notebooks and bestie Drisha really loved the painting. So I decided to gift her a sketch of the same on her birthday :) The girl I sketched turned out to be cuter than the original. :P

This is a very common anime which many of us might have seen. I didn't know when I started sketching this on the back page of my notebook during a class.

The original was a sketch I spotted during surfing the net and saved the picture because I liked the way the hair looked. My version does not do justice to the original,its simply beautiful.

Hope you could figure who it is (Ok,its Albert Einstein,if you couldn't. Blame my lame sketch). This sketch appeared in the newspaper a long time back and I found it so cute,I cut it out and kept in a file. Isn't little Einstein really cute??

Those hydra-like creatures are I and Drisha :D This was made during one of our happie happie moments and we looked exactly like those cuties,except we aren't that cute!!

Muzic of the week

These are my favorite songs of this week...the songs I have been constantly humming for some days.

1) You Haven't Seen The Last of Me

Artist- Cher

Heard this song first in the movie Burlesque (not a good one but fine for time pass,kind of a chick flick) and went head over heels in love with Cher's voice...she's totally awesome.

Random excerpt from the song-

" I'm gonna stand my ground

You're not gonna stop me.

You don't know me,

 you don't know who I am.

Don't count me out so fast...

you haven't seen the last of me"

2) When I look at you

Artist-Miley Cyrus

Li'l sis (who is a big big fan of Miley Cyrus,the Hannah Montana star???) was humming this song a few days
back and I have joined the humming since!! I do think she is Disney's best find amongst teen singers,she is far
better than her peers (Selena & Demi and others).

Random excerpt from the song-
"when my world is falling apart.
When there's no light to break up the dark,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore.
That's when I, I, I look at you"

3) The Call

Artist- Regina Spektor

Remember the song which plays in The Chronicles of Narnia-Prince Caspian?? Yep this is the same song...soft and sweet...soothing on the nerves...perfect for the mad mad time am having now...

Random Excerpt from the song -
"I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye
Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never
Been this way before"

4) Stereo Hearts

Artist / Band - Gym Class Heroes Feat. Adam Levine

I was never a fan of Adam Levine before I heard him in this song and then on "The Voice" . He has got a really different kind of voice (wondering what the difference is)...enchanting...yeah...

Random Excerpt from the song -
" Make me your radio
Turn me up when you feel low
This melody was meant for you
Just sing along to my stereo"

5) Why This Kolaveri di

Artist- Dhanush (soundtrack of a Tamil movie "3")

Well this song should have been on the top of the list...no wonder it rocks the world...Japan ,New Zealand, Pakistan...this one has taken every place by a storm!! With its catchy and simple Tanglish lyrics this song is now on everyone from 8 to 80's lips....Am lovin' it....

Random Excerpt from the song -
"lovvu lovvu
oh my lovvu
you showed me bouv-u
cow-u cow-u holi cow-u
i want u hear now-u
god i m dying now-u
she is happy how-u "

So any of you humming the same songs that I am?? Or do you love these songs as much as I do?? Tell me...

Love
Swarnali

Girl With A Pearl Earring

Saw this painting years back in an encyclopedia and fell in love with it. The GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (Dutch: Het Meisje met de Parel ) is the best known work of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Take a  look at the painting-

image and information courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Today kept in the Mauritshuis gallery in the Hague. It is sometimes referred to as "the Mona Lisa of the North" or "the Dutch Mona Lisa". Understandably, the central focal point of the painting is the pearl earring.


Dear Opal of Girl With a Pearl Earring has named her blog after this famous painting,very apt title,I would say :D


There was a film made in 2003 by the same name.

image courtesy : www.imdb.com

 I had to see this film for 2 reasons-
1) The name is what made me see it in the first place
2) It has 2 of my very favorite actors- Scarlett Johansson as the maid girl in the painting and Colin Firth as painter Johannes Vermeer.
There is a very beautiful scene in this film,the part when Firth uses a needle to pierce Johansson's ear. What I loved about the scene is how the director and the actors have unitedly proved that you don't need nudity or vulgarity to bring sensuality to any scene. 


Take a look at how Scarlett Johansson looked when posing for the painting as Griet,the maid servant who is the model for the painting-

Did you see the painting before or did you see the movie and did you like it??
Would love to know from you :)


Till next
Love
Swarnali