Tandoor Cinders

By Vilas Sarang
Penguin India
Year 2008, pp 107
Rs 199

Vilas Sarang has a strange and unusual way of telling weird things in most of his books. Tandoor Cinders is no different. Once again he gives us a provoking psycho-thriller invoking the sub-conscious state of mind in this tale of passionate love, hate and the human instinct that craves for revenge.

Chandrashekhar Nayak’s life as a college psychology teacher turns upside-down when he is completely ‘possessed’ by a newspaper report on the Tandoor murder case. With absolute resolve to meet the perpetrator of the crime, Jaidev Jakhad, Nayak ropes in his chubby daughter Leena to help trace Jakhad after the latter had escaped from police custody.

Despite his wife’s misgivings about their mission, the father-daughter duo set out on their mission only to find themselves in a strange journey to the underworld where they are compelled to re-think about their sense of justice and the worldly affairs of love and marriage.

Tandoor Cinders strikes not only the conscious but also the subconscious thoughts of the reader with its psycho-analytical narrative script which is quite monotonous at some stages. This book also takes your time to figure out how and why there could be a hole underneath the tandoor that could take you to the ‘patala’. Despite these, Sarang prepares his readers well for the sudden shift when he decided to take his characters to the strange underworld beneath the tandoor.

The concept of justice and relationship according to Hindu mythology and the western world also come into the picture when Nayak and Leena seek the help of a sage as they try to locate the tandoor murderer. This is quite intriguing because it involves some knowledge about the Hindu faith.

This book questions the very basic of your beliefs and stretches the ever-curious mind to its maximum limits. It also shows if you wish see your 25th years of marriage and to keep the marital bond intact you have to, at some point of time, lead a ‘false life’; like pretending to be happy when actually not and vice-versa.

The distinction between fantasy and reality is quite perplexing in Tandoor Cinders unless you stretch your imagination beyond the barriers of time and space. Once you let the story take you along, this strange tale of an extraordinary life is such a book that could give you nightmares in which you yourself will take part in the Nayak’s sojourn. A brilliant and imaginative psycho-thriller that could take you completely off your notion about life.

Still Life

Chinese director Jia Zhangke had caused quite a stir and surprises during the 2006 Venice International Film Festival by winning the Golden Lion award for this film.

The fictitious film, yet contemporary, has a coherent narrative with two main characters focused on the background of the Three Gorges dam construction, the world’s largest, in Central China. Han, a miner and Shen, a middle class woman, return to the small town of Fengjie in the dam area to look for their estranged spouses.

Han finds that during his sixteen-year absence the place has been flooded and his wife and daughter resettled elsewhere. As Han and Shen look for their elusive spouses, the lives of those affected by the mega dam project is told through these two unrelated people who never meet in the film.

Still Life is devoid of habitual narration style. It is an all out art film where images and observations come centre stage. Though the two main characters never meet their common purpose binds the film intact. The director seems to focus more on the significance of the event rather than on a soulful story. It brings to mind some documentaries in which the stories hardly took up with plenty of long shots trying capture what is happening in the background as well as at the front.

The film is quite perplexing but looking closely at the attention to details, you will be amazed. The best part is, you, as the viewer is left to interpret the plot itself which is never explicitly resolved. Still Life never frustrates despite its lack of mobility as Jia paints cinematic poetry in each frame. Despite the mundane storyline Still Life gives you an opportunity to spot some humour in the lives of other characters. Revealing them could spoil the challenge.

To watch this film you will need to put cent per cent of your patience into service. At the end of it you will be surprisingly pleased. The film also gives you an opportunity for some scholarly musing and striking visuals. Still Life has modest action but plenty of substance going on. However, watch it only if you are intelligent enough to appreciate art films else you’ll feel totally wasted.
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[Mandarin (U) with English subtitle]
Cast: Han Sanming, Zhao Tao, Li Zhu Bing, Wang Hongwei
Director: Zhang Ke Jia

Changeling

It’s sad to experience the fallout of corrupt bureaucrats especially when they appear to have some links to the disappearances of your dear ones. In this ‘true story’ Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, whose son, Walter, went missing in March 1928. Five months later, the Los Angeles police announced that her son had been found.

They organised a photo-op for the mother-son reunion but amidst all these Collins knew the boy was not hers.
When she persistently asked the police to continue their search, she found herself thrown into a mental hospital after being accused of being ‘mentally unfit’. However, with the help of activist Rev Briegleb (John Malkovich), she fought to unravel the truth.

Changeling is not exactly a thriller. It turns out to be more of an open-secret outrage kind of film where you can safely say the LAPD or many law enforcing agencies tend to protect their tarnished image.

Jolie, Malkovich and Geoff Pierson, as a lawyer who takes Collins’ case do very well. Jason Butler Harner as the murderous sick killer looks real. On top of all, nobody can doubt Jolie’s maternal side even in this film. Being a mother must really have helped her a lot.

‘Dirty Harry’ Clint Eastwood as director is getting better with each film. This film cements his uncharacteristic style of film making with classic touch.

Perhaps, the only annoying thing about this film is the script which tends to take many turns leaving too many loose ends and some dull flashbacks. The plot also appears to let it go after 90 minutes or so.

Overall, the authentic setup of the 1920s and the story itself will capture you emotionally.
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English (A)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Geoff Pierson, Gattlin Griffith
Director: Clint Eastwood