GRAVITY (HOLLYWOOD SPACE SCIENCE DRAMA)

Written & Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, Produced by Alfonso Cuaron/ David Heyman, Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Music by Steven Price. Cinematography by Emmanuel Libezki

Storyline: Medical Engineer, Dr.Ryan Stone (Sandra) and Astronaut, Matt Kowelsky (George Clooney) set out to space walking to repair a mal functioning unit of the Hubble Telescope. While doing so, they get info from their space station Explorer, that a catastrophic stream of debris, which is a result of a Russian destroyed space shuttle is right on their way and ordered to abort their job. But before they do so, the debris hits the Explorer and the Telescope destroying both. Both the astronauts have a narrow escape and try to reach the nearest International Space Station (ISS) but find that the crew over there have already abandoned the ship sensing danger from the orbiting debris, which has already partly destroyed the same. Matt instructs Dr Ryan to use the capsule of ISS to reach the next nearest Chinese space station Tiangong and sacrifices his life to save Dr Ryan. She completely loses hope and plans to kill herself by shutting down the oxygen levels of the capsule but recoups herself thinking about the sacrifice of Matt. She somehow reaches Tiangong and propels herself to Earth through its functioning capsule just at the nick of moment before the orbiting debris once again devastates Tiangong. Dr Ryan’s capsule lands in a lake and she walks out on the full gravity of the Earth, a pleasure that she never thought of enjoying again.
Positives: The movie watched in 3D gives a weightless feeling to the viewer throughout. The true experience of being lost in space and the difficult situations that astronauts face betting their lives is well established. The Director’s skill in screening the entire movie with just two people and their struggle to get back to Earth alive, is commendable. Cinematography and the visual effects of living in space is excellent. Great background music.
Negatives: Viewers might get disappointed when they don’t get to see any other character in the movie, and not as a great entertainer. The advanced technology could have maneuvered the shuttles out of the orbit of the 90 minute cycles of the debris and avoid impact. Absence of quantified sentiment might have brought down the expected success.

My rating is 3.5 out of 5

IDENTITY THIEF (HOLLYWOOD CRIME COMEDY)

Directed by Seth Gordon, Produced by Scott Stuber and Pamela Abdy, Starring Jason Bateman and Melissa Mc Carthy. Music by Christopher Lennertz.

Storyline: Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is an accountant in a multinational firm, living in Denver with his pregnant wife and two daughters. He struggles to make his ends meet due to low salary for a long time. Just at this moment, his credit card identity gets stolen through a fake call from a woman (Melissa). She is a professional identity thief with card printing machine and does this to live a lavish life at the expense of others. Sandy realizes one day about his stolen identity when his credit card gets declined in a petrol station, due to his outstanding dues on the card. Sandy almost loses his new job due to involvement of police and vows to prove his innocence by getting hold of the imposter. He finds her in Colorado and struggles to get her back to Denver and make her confess her guilt. During the journey, he develops a soft corner for her when he learns that she is an orphan and without a proper identity or a person to care for her, which shaped her behavior. Similarly, she also respects Sandy for his true gentleman nature and after meeting his beautiful small family. She finally confesses her fraud to the police and helps Sandy retain his job and good name once again. In return Sandy Patterson fetches her a new name and a her true identity forever, from government records.

Positives: A soft comedy with crime of a different nature mixed in right proportions. Melissa’s performance has taken the lion’s share of the movie. Her chubby body shape gives scope for enough comedy scenes. Nice car chases.

Negatives: The story is not new and nothing novel in the idea. Crime model is not practical as such fraudulent usage of credit cards can be easily traced and curbed due to latest technology. Involvement of some hooligans trying to get hold of Melissa seemed to be unnecessary. Comedy scenes are limited to Melissa and more of emotion linked to Jason’s role. A movie that need not be for home collection but can be viewed once.

My rating is 2.5 out of 5

Alexander the Great - The Macedonian Who Conquered the World by Sean Patrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another good motivator from Sean Patrick. This time the choice of the author is Alexander the Great, who plundered everything in his way. What made him do so?

“Drive in One’s Self” is the main topic of discussion in this book. After the famous Genius Code description by the author in his previous book, the one great motivator that makes a person great is said to be the Drive to achieve his/her passion; just like Alexander the Great, from Macedon. Alexander took his throne of Macedon at a young age of twenty, and surprised everyone through his extra ordinary warrior skills and ruthless fighting spirit. His passion to conquer entire known world and introduce the superior Hellenic culture across the world was his purpose and goal. He went on to suppress all kinds of internal revolts against him from his family members, tribes of Thracia, Thebes, Athens and Thessaly. His formidable armed forces of experienced warriors, though small could devastate much larger armies in their way under the command of their great leader. He went on to conquer all the kingdoms around Macedon and also the vast and rich Persian empire with the same zeal and ferociousness. One by one, all major kingdoms including Persia, Illyria, Thebes, Boetia, Phoenicia, Plataea, Babylonia, Gaza, Egypt and part of India fell for the great warrior, unable to face the superior war strategies and the unbeatable winning spirit of Alexander. His soldiers were always charged with the same passion that drove Alexander and were unstoppable in every land they invaded and conquered. He led his undefeated army for 22,000 miles and founded 70 cities in just 12 years. Ultimately, in 323 B.C., Alexander succumbed to a mysterious fever, at the age of 32, when he was said to be under a depression and loss of his wild drive to establish a superior way of life and lift it to a new echelon of economic, social and academic prosperity across the world.

Positives: Alexander’s history summarized very effectively in this short book. His theory of working towards the goal through a definite purpose, confidence, diligent analysis and planning is quite inspiring. His interesting philosophies like “I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity” are worth noting down. The author’s selection of great leaders to bring out his valid points is impressive, a great way of inspiring the reader. Must read more on The Gordian Knot of King Midas.


Negatives: Everyone cannot be an Alexander as this great king could achieve what he did through his barbaric force and ruthless terror, not in a civilized world. The volcanic drive inside Alexander and his superior planning can be adopted but not the means he adopted to achieve his goals. What’s the use of having a short life with forced glory?

My rating is 3.25 out of 5


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The Secret of the Nagas by Amish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta. This is his second book, of the Shiva Trilogy, in continuation of “The Immortals of Meluha”. He is a great believer of Lord Shiva and his power.

Storyline: After having captured Swadweep, Shiva camps at Ayodhya with Sati (his wife) and his army. Shiva gets enlightened by the Vasudev Pandit in Ramjanmabhoomi temple about the purpose of Neelkanth. But, he develops sheer hatred against the Nagas, whom he thinks have murdered his best friend, Brihaspati, while destroying Mount Mandar. On his quest to find out the secret behind the powerful Nagas, he visits Kashi, where Sati delivers a baby boy, Karthik. The Nagas are found to be the suppliers of secret medicine to the rich kingdom of Branga (a deltaic land formed by the confluence of the two mighty rivers Brahmaputra and Ganga). This medicine heals and cures diseases, beyond the imagination of the Meluhan medical knowledge. The curiosity makes Shiva visit Brangadesh and finds that the kingdom is stuck with a mysterious plague which kills and deforms their children. The medicine from the Nagas cures them. This is when Sati is rescued by her abandoned first son (Ganesh) and her sister (Kali), during a lion attack. Ganesh and Kali were abandoned by Daksh due their birth deformities, and christened as Nagas. This fact is hidden from Sati, who later confronts her father Daksh for keeping her in dark regarding this and accompanies Shiva to the land of Nagas, only to discover that the Nagas are well organized harmless people put to lot of hardships by the arrogant Suryavanshis. The book ends with Shiva discovering the secret of the Nagas, who is none other than a man whom he assumed to be lost forever, found teaching about good and evil to Naga children. To be continued in the next book, “The Oath of the Vayuputras”.

Positives: New facts like the origin of the Lord Ganesh and his genetic link to Goddess Kali/Sati came as a surprise. The origin and importance of Kashi, Prayag, Vaishali etc are worth reading. The beauty of the forests of Sundarbans and Dandakaranya well elicited. A new land Branga (present Bengal) and its taunted riches are quite impressive. The all India voyage of Lord Shiva and his enlightenment about Good and Evil as the two sides of one coin in different territories of the country is worth memorizing.

Negatives: This book is a little boring compared to the first. The original version of the birth of Lord Ganesh is in total disobedience with this version. Reader might get confused. My personal doubt is that is Lord Shiva much younger than his wife Sati, who is estimated to be over one hundred years, due to the influence of Somras, when she married Shiva?

My rating is 3.5 out of 5


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The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta. This is his debut novel, the first of the Shiva Trilogy and a great believer of Lord Shiva and his power.

Storyline: Shiva, a leader and a fierce warrior of a tribe called Guna in the Himalayan mountains, near Lake Manasarovar adjacent to Mount Kailash, who led a simple life, was lured by the advanced civilization of the Suryavanshis from a land called Meluha, in order to lead them to a war against their opponents, the Chandravanshis from a land called Swadweep, under the pretext that Chandravanshis want to destroy Meluha out of jealousy, with the help of Nagas, another deadly clan from down South of India. Meluhans differ from the Swadweepans in their disciplined and organized lifestyle in comparison to the free and conservative nature of their counterparts. Both of them follow and interpret their deity Lord Ram’s principles in their own way. In the process of administering their eternal, exclusive and prestigious drink ‘Somras’ on Shiva, the Meluhans discover that Shiva is none other than their long awaited Neelkanth, who is supposed to be their savior and destroyer of evil, as per the legend they believed in. Shiva falls in love with the widowed daughter (Sati) of Daksh, the emperor of Meluha and gets married to her. In return, Daksh forced Shiva to lead a war against the Chandravanshis led by their ruler Dilipa, after the suspected attack of the former’s great Somras manufacturing facility, by the latter. Shiva after defeating Chandravanshis in a fierce-full war, realizes that they are not at all evil but just different from the disciplined and advanced Suryvanshis. He repents for his mistake of being responsible for the death of so many innocent Chandravanshis, who also believed in the same legend, mentioned earlier, and waiting for their Neelkanth. The book is left open ended when Sati is attacked by a Naga when she accompanies Shiva in Ayodhya, the Swadweepan capital.

Positives: One of the best book series of recent times by an Indian author. A great interest is generated among the readers when one starts reading the book as it pertains to the identity and popularity of Lord Shiva, the highest worshiped God by the Hindus. Anxiety mounts every second as one is driven by interest to know what happens next chapter by chapter. One gets to know the origination of the Somras and its great immortal effects on human body scientifically explained. Terms associated with Lord Shiva and their importance explained with scientific logic like Mahadev, Nataraj dance posture, deadly weapon Trishul, tortoise formation in war etc are worth reading.

Negatives: Might be disturbing to staunch followers of Lord Shiva, that he was once a human being and was subject to all kinds of physical and spiritual emotions just like all of us and could be even be misled by someone else. This book questions the fact about the basic belief in every Hindu whether the Gods that they worship today were once upon a time just humans who have become great by their deeds and virtues

My rating is 3.75/5


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2 States: The Story of My Marriage by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author is an IIT and IIM graduate and banker turned author. Rated as one of the top English language authors in India.

Storyline: The author’s self story of his marriage with Ananya Swaminathan, after he met her for the first time in a lunch que line of his management school. Having graduated in engineering from the premier Indian Institute of Technology, he joins IIM where he be-friends the most beautiful Tamil Brahmin girl, Ananya, in his class. They slowly fall in love with each other over a period of time, and decide to marry, by the time, they finish their post graduation in management and get into employment with Citibank and Hindustan Lever, respectively families, trying to impress them with their best of abilities, but to only end up being accepted only halfheartedly. Finally, Krish decides to have a common get-together of both the parents in Goa, which also ends in a disaster through mutual abuses and insults on each other. Then, started the actual problems. The orthodox South Indian background of Ananya is in conflict with the social and outspoken Punjabi families of Krish Malhotra. Both of them strive to convince their respective families by each spending enough time, with each other’s parents to get to know their respective cultures, customs, traditions, educational backgrounds, etc. This creates fissures in the relationship between the duo. Krish gets into near nervous breakdown, when his father, (whom Krish never respected due to his authoritative nature), meets Ananya’s parents and convinces them for the marriage, in the nick of the moment. The book ends with a happy note on Krish’s family attending his South style marriage and the couple blessed with twins after a couple of years.

Positives: Hilarious, witty and very entertaining. The manner in which South Indian and North Indian way of living is elicited in a witty fashion is worth reading. The strong moral of Indians remaining as Indians first and not to differentiate each other by their skin color and states they belong to is strongly emphasized and inter-state marriages encouraged to bridge this gap. Various social problems in India like dowry system, discrimination, North South egos, excessive parental control, importance of marriage of families and not just individuals and changing cultural habits of the younger generation are addressed tactically.

Negatives: The comedy in some verses might be taken seriously by some readers if they carry the South Indian versus North Indian differences in their minds and the abuses on each other might enhance that feeling of hatred. Somehow, the author seems to have slight tilt towards Punjabi lifestyle and misses a clean two sided justification.

My rating is 3.75/5


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INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 (HOLLYWOOD MOVIE)

Directed by James Wan (The Conjuring Fame), Produced by Jason Blum and Orum Peli, starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shayne, Ty Simpkins and Barbara Hershey. Music by Joseph Bishara.
The Director seems to have mastered the subject of making horror movies that can scare the shit out of audience watching this film.
Storyline: The mysterious ‘astral projection’ ability of Josh to be able to communicate with the Other World’s spirits leaves him possessed by the spirit of Parker Crane, who wants to kill his family, to keep himself young, through his evil mother. In an attempt to know about the possession, Elise gets killed, by Josh for knowing the secret. Twenty five years later, Dalton, the son of Josh inherits the same ability of Josh. During investigation of the death of Elise, her friend Carl also gets killed. The displaced spirits of Josh and Carl find Elise’s spirit in the other world only to discover that it was Peter’s mother who is killing young brides, after abusing Peter. Meanwhile, the real Josh who is possessed by Peter attacks his wife Renai and his kids at home. Just at the time when the possessed Josh is about to kill them, Elise evicts Parker’s mother in the Other World, thus freeing real Josh from Peter’s spirit. Josh and Carl in the other world, are fetched back to the real world by Dalton, with his ability to travel to the other world in sleep, and everyone is back to real world, finally. The movie ends with ‘astral projection’ to be erased from the minds of Josh and Dalton through hypnosis by Carl.,
Positives: A sheer horror experience more than any of the previous projects of the Director. Thoroughly enjoyable screenplay with excellent cinematography and music. Can be phrased as ‘horror redefined’. Un-believable and fictitious characterization added fuel to fire. The memories of the movie carried for a long time by the spectators. The sound effects made the film one of the best horror films ever.
Negatives: Definitely not for the weak-hearted and people with nervous disorders. Too many characters and over fictionalization confused the audience with no clear cut understanding of the story, if watched only once.

My rating is 4 out of 5

The Story of Google by Sara Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful dwarfed book as cute as the name of the company reveals many inside facts about Google’s humble beginning to its present day’s status of being one of the most admired companies of the world, within a span of ten years. The vision of the founders Sergy Brin and Larry Page coupled with the experience of Eric Schmidt as their CEO, has taken the world by surprise in the search engine category of business with its delightful products like Google, Froogle, Gmail, AdSense, GTalk, Google Play, Google News, Google 101,You Tube etc and many more surprises to come in near future which might catapult the company to astronomical heights and challenge the existence of giants in the industry.

Positives: Many facts about Google, its founders, beautiful photographs of Google’s start-up garage, its offices, and the view of Silicon Valley are worth seeing in this book. The author must be congratulated for her research in writing this short story very effectively, without much crap. One should read this book if you want to know about the true meaning of Google, Googleplex and the 20 percent creativity.

Negatives: The layout of the book is targeted at Young readers specifically.

My rating is 4 out of 5


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Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century by Sean Patrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nikola Tesla, the mad scientist, the father of radio, the one behind the famous “Tesla Coil” that has revolutionized the 20th Century science, and lives of the people of the World. The humble man of poverty has risen to the heights of garnering almost over 800 patents to his credit, related to various inventions in the fields of alternating current of electricity, fluorescent bulb, wireless energy, electromagnetic radiation, X-Rays, modern warfare, and of course internet.
The author has carefully chosen this great scientist who invented ‘alternating current’ of electricity and introduced it to the world, commercially, to explain about the power of imagination and curiosity in one’s self to acquire the code of genius and hence become a genius. The fact that IQ is not an inborn trait to everyone but acquired by many is well put forward through umpteen number of examples of many great iconic personalities like Henry Ford, Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Beethoven, Ted Williams, just through practice, practice and practice. The famous 10,000 hour rule of Anders Ericcson is a highlight here.
Nikola Tesla is one such scientist who has not been recognized well by the world but has been put to failure number of times by his peers, partners, competitors etc, but kept going by pursuing his passion of inventions in his area of expertise which gave the world blue prints of the best of the technologies today. Well…how many of us knew that Thomas Edison discouraged Nikola to go ahead with his latter’s plans of spreading free electricity to the world by harnessing the atmospheric electrical energy? The failed Wardenclyffe Tower built by Nikola to make this possible is worth studying.

Positives: A beautiful short book worth reading by all young and old, student and professional, male and female, to explore the possibilities of becoming a genius by triggering their brain cells towards curiosity and led by imagination. The author presented the points very tactically by taking the example of Nikola (an unselfish, unsung, great scientist) and his life filled with so many failures but yet a man with so many inventions and who died without a penny in hand,despite his great achievements.

Negatives: A grave truth is underlying that an inventor or an innovator without some basic business skills to sell/market his/her product, sacrificing ethics, is sure to go down the drains and someone else take the credit for the same.

My rating is 4 out of 5.


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The 5-Minute Socializer: Make Friends and Win A Room In 5-Minutes or Less by Clarence Oliver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A clean hand book of how to socialize using simple and doable steps.
Divided into five chapters which talk about acquiring Social Confidence through basic human physiology which helps in eliminating self-doubt and master ways to act, appear and feel more confident in society. The minute details of how one should improve his/her posture, dressing, appearance, visualization and role play are worth reading.
The author’s efforts in bringing out the fact that a great socializer always makes the other person feel more important than himself, is commendable. Even the way to deal with sarcastic comments was well interpreted. The power of maintaining one’s space, touch, position and eye contact is well elicited.

Positives: Very practical in approach, a must read for all introverts, and crisp to the point. Points of interest are Small Talk vs Big Talk, The Three Magic Questions, Acceptance Glare, Eyebrow Flash and Mirror Welcome. One needs to study and implement them in the right place and time in order to become popular and make more friends than others.

Negatives: The time mentioned by the author to make an advance towards socialization to a totally new group with all the inputs provided in the book might not be realistic on the ground.

My rating is 3.25/5


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The Mahabharata Secret by Christopher Doyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A stunning book of mythological fiction based on extensive research on the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, by the author; another Management Graduate, who joins the league of recent young Indian authors, in bringing forth, the great secrets of the Indian mythological epics to the readers.

Storyline: Vikram Singh, an Indian nuclear scientist, and the last remaining member of a secret brotherhood of the Nine, sends a coded mail to his nephew, Vijay working in USA, passing on the great two thousand year old secret of Mahabharata and requesting him to maintain, it after his death. This great secret is passed on over centuries through a secret brotherhood scattered across the world. Vikram Singh is murdered just after sending this mail by Farooq Siddique, another nuclear scientist from Pakistan, who is also an active member of Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the two dreaded terrorist organizations of the world. Farooq learns from Vikram about the secret brotherhood of the Nine (nine members chosen by King Ashoka, the great emperor of India, who ruled the country in about 300 BC) to protect the deadly secret of his unexpected discovery, in a hidden cavern of a hill in a dense forest that contains the secrets of the missing book in Mahabharata called the ‘Vimana Parva’. This missing book is said to have information and blue prints about deadly flying objects designed to destroy the opponents, using a kind of technology which is unknown to the modern world even today. LeT is all set to get access to this technology to build their own weaponry system and control the entire world, aided by a powerful consortium, across the world, forever. Vijay, with the help of his friend Collins, Prof Shukla (an expert in ancient history of India) and his daughter Radha (nuclear physicist) together solve the various exciting riddles and puzzles created by the brotherhood of “Nine” to reach the actual physical site, where the great unbelievable secret of the Mahabharata has been concealed for over 2300 years. Farooq, with his men, trail Vijay and his friends, down to the secret location and try to get the same smuggled out of the country. But, their attempt is foiled by the Indian Intelligence Bureau with the help of Indian Army. In this battle, the secret location, with all its valuable possessions are destroyed forever. Vijay, later, discovers that the secret coded ancient knowledge about Vimana Parva and other valuable ancient science, gathered by his uncle Vikram Singh, is already deciphered/documented by the later into English and stored in a secret place in his residence, followed by Vikram’s request to Vijay to take up the position of the Nine, after him. I prefer not revealing the secret here, to maintain the interest of the reader, in the book.

Positives: The book has the ability to be finished in a single sitting as it arouses wonderful page turning experience filled with suspense and mind boggling riddles to be solved in order to reach the great secret. The author’s extensive research into the Indian history excites the reader with awe and keeps him wondered as to how advanced the science of the ancients was, compared to the present, particularly the flying objects and Sudarshan Chakra, said to be the celestial weapons of Gods, used in the Great War of Mahabharata between Pandavas and Kauravas. Will be a massive blockbuster if converted into a movie.

Negatives: A doubt as to why King Ashoka did not destroy the dangerous Mahabharata secret, knowing that it is detrimental to the world peace, in case it falls into wrong hands, exist, instead of taking such great pains in protecting the same, for generations. The good characters in the story, always seemed to get everything right every time, which seemed to be a little exaggerative. The suspected characters are too easy to be identified right from the beginning.

My rating is 4.5/5.


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Blind Her with Bliss by Nina Pierce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A high voltage love, suspense and murder erotica from the award winning author Nina Pierce, a specialist in such a category.

Storyline: Juliet, the eldest and most responsible of the three sisters of Tilling family, wants to investigate the sudden suicide of her best friend Jason. She suspects his death as a murder and sets out to find out the truth from an erotic Singles Night Club, called ‘Starry Nights’ owned by a gay entrepreneur Elvis Castonguay. Since Jason was a frequent visitor to this Club, she chose to probe the owner Elvis about Jason’s suicide. But there she encounters the attractive Damon Corey, the DJ of the high voltage club and also discovers, that the Club runs a secret business of live pornography, from its basement, which is unknown to the public and police. Damon Corey, a ladies man and heterosexual, falls in love with Juliet on his first sight and takes Juliet to bed in his first meeting itself. A sex and love starved Juliet falls in deep love with Damon and they together investigate the case of Jason, where they find that Jason was a gay and loved by Elvis, but later changes his mind and tries to become normal with the help of Elvis’s business partner Dr Maura. This aggravates Elvis against Dr Maura (a sex specialist), for brainwashing Jason against homosexuality and converting him to normal, but accidentally shoots down Jason in an argument with her in presence of Jason.
Finally at the time when Dr Maura confesses the truth to Juliet and Damon, in her clinic, Elvis suddenly appears and shoots down Dr Maura and tries to kill Juliet-Damon duo in fear of being exposed to the police. In the tussle between Elvis and Damon, Elvis gets shot and he dies. Damon and Juliet get married and live to lead a beautiful love-filled life thenceforth.

Positives: A highly arousing erotica experience to all the readers who easily slip into the peak of sexual pleasures while reading a passionate ‘love at first sight’ between Juliet and Damon. The sexual encounters of Juliet and Damon in various instances squeeze the juices of the readers, male or female. For all those who want to know about the Singles Parties, Singles Night Clubs, One Stand Night Outs, Public Sex and of course a high voltage sex filled love experience, this book is a must read. Readers will definitely be tempted to go for the author’s other books.
Negatives: Anybody who opines that homosexuality is a disgrace and a menace to the society, then, they should be ready to read how the same is gaining prominence and recognition, nowadays. More and more people getting into such relationships (gay/lesbian) might be a cause of worry in defiance to the law of nature.



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ARGO (Hollywood Movie)

Starring Ben Affleck, directed by Ben Affleck, music by Alexandre Desplate and produced by Grant Heslov, George Clooney and Ben Affleck.

Winner of three Academy Awards and over thirty prestigious awards across the world, the film portrays a real event that took place in 1979-80 wherein six American diplomats are rescued in a dramatic way, from Iran, under the disguise of a film unit, said to be making an imaginary science fiction movie named ‘Argo’(NASA's space ship).
Iranian revolutionaries in 1979, hold all American nationals from its embassy as hostages, killing some of them, demanding extradition of the Shah, the former tyrant ruler of Iran, taking refuge in USA. Six of the embassy diplomats escape and hide in Canadian ambassador’s residence.
Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA consultant, is deputed to Iran, to rescue the six American diplomats. Tony designs a plot to extradite the diplomats claiming them as a film production unit, exploring the location, to make a science fiction film. Their passports are faked with Canadian identities, with the help of Canadian ambassador, and all necessary arrangements of floating a fake production unit for the film is done meticulously, with the help of Hollywood studios and of course aided by the US Government. The tension mounts when they are stopped by the Iranian revolutionaries in the airport and thoroughly questioned about their identities. The last second clearance of their departure and the final take off of their flight from the Iranian territory back home safely ends the movie with a happy note. Tony gets the highest Excellence award from the CIA for his daring efforts and gets back to his family.
The movie pumps adrenaline in the second half when the diplomats leave the Canadian ambassador’s home to airport. The audience gets really tensed to see how Tony gets them out of the Revolutionary controlled international airport of Iran. The huge relief obtained after the safe take off after a highly nerve cracking security check at the airport is absolutely mind blowing. But none of the six, except one, is shown to thank Tony, for his deadly rescue operation.
The negative part of the film is that the activists and the movement in Iran at that time is shown as extremism and highly unsafe for any American national in the country, which may not be the actual scenario. The basic movement and sentiment of the country seems to have been degraded and fear creating for any potential foreign visitor.
My rating is 3.75/5

SKYFALL (HOLLYWOOD MOVIE)

A 23rd James Bond movie directed by Sam Mendes, produced by Michael G Wilson and Barbara Brocolli, starring Daniel Craig as James Bond.

A rich, high budget film, with sexy ladies, as usual with James Bond’s movies, comes with a story line based upon hunting down the secret information of worldwide undercover agents of MI6 placed in different terrorist organizations across the world, which is lost by MI6, the employer of James Bond. The thief was Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), also an ex-MI6 agent, gets access to the internal server network of MI6 and tries to destroy the entire organization and kill its chief, ‘M’ as a vengeance to an old treachery of M when he was in service. James Bond traces down Raoul in Shanghai (China) and captures him. But Raoul escapes from MI6 prison in London, by hacking into their security systems, and also attempts to kill M, in her office. Sensing danger, James escorts M to his childhood farm house “The Skyfall” in Scotland, deliberately leaving a trail, for Raoul to follow, so that he can kill him there. Raoul attacks Skyfall as per Bond’s plan, but Bond will not be able to save M, in the battle with Raoul, though he kills the later.
The special effects, screenplay and cinematography employed in the movie are simply superb and absolutely extravagant. They are said to have used the latest technology in capturing the moments with Arri Alexa cameras. One can see how money is spent on some scenes that are mind blowing. Particularly the chase on the train, chase in the underground London tunnel, chase on the rooftops in Istanbul, Shanghai and Macau exotic locations and the splendor of Scotland’s countryside where Skyfall is located are worth watching and a real value for money.Overall, a film with no slang and truly English.
Ensure watching it in big screen with equally good sound system.
Daniel Craig, a more of a serious faced and less of a tomboy unlike previous James Bonds we have grown up with, seems to be sure of the retirement from the service and it’s time to see a new James Bond, very soon.
My rating is 4.5/5

A Death Displaced by Andrew Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first of the novella of Lansin Island Series, the author seems to have kick started a chain of events that could invoke a kind of interest in paranormal suspense thrillers, book after book. The author freaks out on paranormal suspense, thrillers, fantasies etc in his works.
Nicholas Jack Crystan, a young boy in early twenties, works part-time, in a small novelty store, in Lansin Island, a tourist haven, in Europe. His father John and twin brothers stay separately. A depressed family which faces the brunt of the sudden disappearance of his mother, Samantha, one day. He once day dreams of an accident near his work place which shortly turns into a reality. This is when he discovers that he is blessed with ability to foresee future. He saves Juliet in the real accident, whose soul is said to have departed her body, when some other woman, dies in her place. She suddenly gets to see the souls of dead people who interact with her, as she is said to be anchored between the physical and spiritual world (The Otherworld) as she is said to have defied death against the fate.
This is when Samantha’s soul appears and informs her to take Nick and his twin brothers to Grendel Manor, where she lost her life, in the hands of a wicked and sadistic owner Aldrich, who practices a special skill of controlling one’s mind, getting all bad things done, as he wants through them and later erases their mind of whatever happened through them. With this power, he is said to offer young children of Lansin Island, as sacrifice to a German/Phoenician God of Child Sacrifice, called Moloch, to attain immortality, over many decades.
Lansin Island, having a history of being inhabited by hundreds of witches, practicing witchcraft in the sixteenth century, witnessed the burning of all those witches in groups of thirty on a special platform built for the purpose by the Government officials as per the King’s order. But they were ignorant of the fact that these officials were mind controlled by Aldrich who reached Lansin Island at that time and got the witches killed, in order to take control of the island, as per his false God’s order.
After many series of events that occur, ultimately, Aldrich is put to death, by one the twin brothers of Nick, after having learnt that Aldrich was responsible for his mom’s brutal murder, when she denied his order to bring her children for sacrifice.
The story ends with Ryan, who works for Aldrich in Grendel Manor, and also boy-friend of Juliet’s close friend, burning down the entire Grendel Manor. Aldrich’s body is also cremated on the same platform where the witches were burnt down alive, some centuries ago.
The book has many open ends with so many character roles unfinished and questions unanswered. Some of them are like how can such a powerful Aldrich die so easily? Is Juliet destined to live with her spirit sighting ability forever? Were the Crystan brothers out of danger forever? Probably, the author has plans to answer all these questions in his next book in the series.
The author has built in many morals in between the story which are to be noted.

My rating is 3.25/5


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Behind The Voice by Cassi Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever been alone in a malfunctioned elevator midway. For over six hours? Well…Here’s a classic short novel by Cassi Gray who describes each and every emotion of a young girl, Cordelia, stranded in an elevator of a building for almost half a day. Wonder what she was doing all the time? She was interacting with a strange human voice without any physical form but can control every action and feeling of hers. Though initially, Cordelia was thinking that she was trying to be killed by someone, she slowly gets attached to the voice, who actually proves to her that it is trying to save her from a great danger.
The twist comes up when Cordelia finally comes out of the elevator safe and sound, and learns that the building was actually attacked by some terrorists and she was one of the few inmates who was alive as the elevator in which she was stranded in had malfunctioned due to strange reasons, while all others were working perfectly. She also gets baffled when she learns that the voice that was interacting with her was that of an alien which landed recently in the town, and rescued her from the jaws of death, for reasons totally unknown to her.
A short book which brought out all the emotions of a young girl stranded in four walls of an elevator, perfect and nonchalant. The reader sails through the pages with ‘what next’ feeling and finish it off at one go. Very innovative thought by the author in her first book of her Novella.

My rating is 3.75/5


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Speed Reading Techniques:How To Read More In Less Time by Brad Evans
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very helpful handbook for voracious readers who constantly strive to read as many books to acquire as much knowledge as possible, in their life time.
This short book is divided into 4 parts.
The first part introduces the definition and technique of speed reading and its benefits. Also it enlists when a reader should not go for speed reading, sometimes particularly when going through legal documents, literary works, personalized letters and presentation materials prepared by others. The second part concentrates on how to develop focus while speed reading. The eye exercise suggested in this part is quite impressive. The third part highlights the need for eliminating sub-vocalization which hampers speed reading and the methods to eliminate this habit. The final part stresses on the point to eliminate Regression or Re-Reading. Usage of index cards/bookmarks and various kinds of hand motions stage-wise seem to be worth trying. The last two chapters are the juiciest of the content. Sure will give desired results. I have tried.
The book is short, simple and crispy. The author could flush out the gist of speed reading, very effectively. But somewhere, there is scope for the reader to feel that the points should have been elaborated a little


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Stress-Proof Your Life: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Taking Control by Elizabeth Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of the best self help books I have read off late. Can be described as a lively book full of real life examples with many pages dedicated to real questions asked by the toughest of the audience. Elisabeth Wilson is a doctor turned journalist/author.
The reader is taken through a journey of 52 brilliant ideas which touch each and every aspect of stress ever recorded which is supposed to have an adverse effect on the mental and physical balance of an individual, if neglected. Each and every idea is enhanced with live examples which are relevant to each one of us and end with a simple tip and a famous quote which summarize the essence of the idea.
The reader gets to gain immense knowledge on various scientific therapies, simple medical tips, hormonal efficiencies and betterment of life through simple procedures suggested by the author.
Some of the most interesting of them are DHEA, Social Mis-attribution, effect of gingko biloba, relaxation techniques, aroma therapy, payback actions, iceberg stress, male menopause, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, lemon balm, one-in, one-out rule, Laser Beam Approach, Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, the Japanese bath, Alexander Technique, the latte factor, desk holiday, floatation theory, reflexology and herbal healers to name a few.
The overall presentation of the book is excellent. The author took very good care in addressing stress related problems of both men and women equally.

My rating is 4.25/5


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The Conjuring (Hollywood Horror Movie)

Written by Chad Hayes/Carey W Hayes, Produced by Tony DeRosa-Grund/Peter Safran/Rob Cowan and Directed by James Wan.

A horror thriller well cinematographed and presented based on a true story. The Perron family (Roger Perron and Carolyn Perron with their five daughters) moves into a newly acquired farm house in the countryside which is actually infested with a demon of the landlady (Bathsheba) who was once the owner of the farm house and who also used to practice witch-craft. She commits suicide after trying to offer her own child as a sacrifice in her practice. Her 200 acre cursed farm house is acquired by different people over a period of time but the witch still hangs around in the cellar of the large house driving away whoever occupies the same. The witch possesses Carolyn and tries to kill her children.
This is when Warren and his wife Lorraine (experts in demonology and un-official exorcists) are approached by Perron to exorcise the witch from the house. After employing different techniques Warren and Lorraine finally exorcise the demon from the possessed Carolyn as well as the house successfully, in the nick of the moment when she the later was just about to kill Christine and solve another complicated case.
Director of Photography and Sound Effects should be congratulated for their exemplary special effects and real horror experience. Even the bravest of hearts would pound at least once while watching this film. The director has given the film an ethnic look by fitting everything so well that one gets a feeling that he/she is transported to the times in 1970s and enjoy the horror thrill. Best audio visual effects guaranteed if viewed on a big screen/Blue Ray with 5.1 surround sound system.
Since the story line is not new, the movie is something like Old Wine in a New Bottle, but still enjoyable with entire family..Reminds one of the old time super hit ‘The Exorcist’.
My rating is 4/5

The One You Cannot Have by Preeti Shenoy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another love missile from Preeti Shenoy for her fans.
A beautiful love story with a happy ending but not which ends with the lovers to have each other for their life time but their memories faded away over a period of time, stuck themselves in totally different relationships with someone else.
Aman Mathur, the one of his kind males left in this ugly world, meets Shruti Srinivasan in an inter-college event, and deeply falls in love with her, over a period of time. The love degree is so intense that they cannot even imagine of living a single moment without each other. But since Aman is from North India and Shruti being South Indian, their marriage proposal is dumped by Shruti’s parents and she is forced to marry Rishabh, under the pretext of ill-health of her mother. Aman is devastated over this development, after Shruti walks over one day and stops responding to Aman for over two years. He later moves on to UK to keep himself busy and finally comes back to Bangalore, on a job offer from his old mentor. Here he meets the attractive columnist Anjali, who prompts him to forget Shruti and move on to her. Rishabh one day happens to come across Shruti’s relationship with Aman before marriage and feels cheated for not being told about it. He maintains a silent distance with Shruti which tortures her emotionally day in day out until the time she decides to go back to Aman and pleading innocence. This is when Aman, the superior male, rejects Shruti’s offer and sends her back to Rishabh, thus taking his sweet revenge on her, for leaving him in the middle of a tempest and walking away, for her own reasons, without even thinking about what could happen to him.

The book is a lesson to many youngsters of today, who get into spontaneous physical and emotional relationships, so early in life, and later get separated due to unavoidable circumstances. Then are the times when they find it very difficult to adjust with their new and forced relationships, wherein their pre-marital affairs surface someday to haunt them for rest of their lives. Very few men exist today like Aman, who do not pounce on opportunities to grab women for sex, and also, there are too many women like Shruti, who find it difficult to adjust with their husbands, unable to forget the time spent with their lovers pre-marriage. The way the young urban India is changing its thought process about love, sex, marriage, divorce, friendship etc imitating the West, would be somewhat upsetting the elders of the country, who go through this story.
The author’s self styled jargon of phrasing sexual feelings of both male and female characters towards each other, at appropriate time, is superb and is at its zenith.

BTW, if someone wants to know about “Revenge Spending” find it in this book. An interesting, to-be-noted fact about angry and neglected wives.


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