This book is a look at not only the suicide/murder of mustafa zaida, a paksitani ex civil servant + poet VS shahnaz gul (a society girl) but also the This book is a look at not only the suicide/murder of mustafa zaida, a paksitani ex civil servant + poet VS shahnaz gul (a society girl) but also the elite pakistani society up till the early 70s. In the backdrop are many moving parts: lahore and khi's elite holding parties at homes and at fancy clubs && newspapers craze for salacious gossip often at the expense of East pakistani news. Its a true crime book with a poignant social commentary. Though by the end, you do feel shahnaz was rightly exonerated and maybe mustafa, a depressed man, took his own life over the rejection, there is a case to be built that someone in shahnaz's circle suffocated a drugged mustafa to get rid of someone who had been threatening shahnaz. The 2nd theory seems unlikely but its a fascinating one. Lastly, its an easy read esp if you are a fan of true crime. It would be an interesting question to ponder how this case would be handled today: the authors postulate there would be more acceptance of shahnaz and more acknowledgement of the mental issues plaguing mustafa. What i found fascinating was how much salacious gossip appeared on pak newspapaers front pages such that parents had to hide newspapers from children.
In the end, shahnaz lived a long life (died in early 2000s) and her daughters thrive to this day. the night clubs and sale of alcohol were disallowed by the late 1970s bringing the "public" aspect of khi nightlife to a close. "Private" gatherings continue to this day. Mustafa's daughter also continues to live with her family abroad and keeps visiting PAK. Mustafa, whatever his obsession with shahnaz, was an honest bureaucrat and a wonderful poet.
Hope shahnaz and mustafa are finding peace wherever they are. ...more
This book looks at the pivotal yeat that was 1999 in movies. Fueled by sundance in late 80s and success of Pulp fiction in �94, there was a generationThis book looks at the pivotal yeat that was 1999 in movies. Fueled by sundance in late 80s and success of Pulp fiction in �94, there was a generation of bold filmmakers who were getting financed by studios or getting picked at sundance that were making innovative, personal, fantastic movies. Because you could cover a chunk of costs through DVD sales after 6 months, many studios were OK to take risks on bold subjects. Add to the fact that movies were THE pop cultural icon of the times.
The movies tackled the cultural american trends of the time as well: cubicle culture that was nearing its peak and eventual descent (office space), the anger in men and their masculinity issues (fight club) with a general sense/feeling/anxiety that a party was coming to an end (it could just be a Y2K paranoia).
Writer mentions a bunch of movies, their making and box office results. I loved The Blair witch story, Fight club story, the Matrix story, Rushmore story, Magnolia story, the “teen movies� and “Office Space� story. Most of these movies are part of memes and GIFs now which shows their timelessness. It was the 2nd or 3rd or debut for many great artists of the past 25 years like Fincher, Sodebergh and Paul T Anderson. The writer ends with how that movement of �99 ends with 3 major shifts: the country’s mood changed after 9/11 and people wanted escapy movies, budgets ballooned from 50$ to 150$ (on average) per movie which means studios chased huge profits FOR each movie, and TV (post sopranos) was THE spot for innovative, creative, bold drama. With the advent of streaming services, “going to the theatres� is NOT really an event anymore though the writer hopes that the next generation of writers and filmmakers are busy scripting the next great wave of cinema....more
each of these women can be a separate book in themselves. But the author does a good job in setting up the environment of each character and their gooeach of these women can be a separate book in themselves. But the author does a good job in setting up the environment of each character and their good/bad things. I learnt small little details about almost all of these indian women. I had no idea about drapaudi's anger towards her husbands for their failure to protect her honor, Radha's jealously towards other gopis in Krishna's life. Not both these women may be mythical, but they hold key space in modern INDIAN consciusness. The 1857 queens, Hazrat Mahal & Rani Laxmibai, have great historical stories and the writer is having a lot of fun here. They both stayed anti British right till the end. Jahanara was a tragic figure and with her ended the mughal splendor. She was a sufi-murid of her time and never married. Add another name to the long list of great Timurid women. Raziya sultana and Meerabai had tough lives, both did something against the rules set for them of the time. Raziya was the first women ruler of Delhi, daughter of a slave Turk king, and died fighting to restore her crown. Meerabai refused sati and became a bhakt of a religious diety and stepped out of her marital house which was quite radical. Modern indians should learn about these women, their lives adn deeds, and maybe our daughters can use that as a springboard for great accomplishments....more
i have been meaning to read this book a long time and it did not disappoint. its a harrowing account of the 1937-38 occupation of china's captial, Nanki have been meaning to read this book a long time and it did not disappoint. its a harrowing account of the 1937-38 occupation of china's captial, Nanking, by the Japanese forces. While they slaughtered close to 300k people and raped 20k+ women, the author weaves a complete summary account of the circumstances during those months. Special mention should be given to the International Zone (Created inside nanking as a safe buffer for civilians) members (germans, americans etc) that tried to prevent rapes and murders by taking in hundred of thousands of refugess (not to mention risking their lives whenever Japanese raided the Int Zone). Most fascianting figure was the "nazi" Seimens employee Mr.Rabe who was the head of this Zone. (When he reached Germany and told Hitler of the ongoing massacre, he was told to shut up since Japan was an ally. he was osctracrized during the de-nazification process and left with nothing to pay for his legal bills. Amazingly, when the city of nanking heard about this, they sent aid in the form of food and other essentials saving Rabe and his family from destitution) The author notes, tragically, that though the commanders on the ground during the seige and occupation were sentenced and executed, the imperial family (including the supreme authority during the brutality Asaka (emperor's uncle)) espcaed justice. That was because the americans needed Japan as an ally during the hot COLD WAR, so a lot of bureaucrats (that were part of the military Japanese regime during the war) escaped punishment. On the other hand, a lot of victims of the Nanking massacre live in extreme poverty now. In the same breath, a lot Japanese high ranking officials , even up till 1990s, continued to downplay the scale or existence of the atrocities. The author also offers some insight into why the massacre could have taken place? The brutal reality of Japanese military (officers hitting and humiliating soldiers), the hierarchical nature of Japanese society (emperor at top, and power dependent on closeness to him), the social indoctrination in Japanese society and military that Chinese were not humans, and the firm belief that Japan was meant to rescue Asia (from western imperialism) and rule it under the Emperor who was the most supreme. The author also laments the lack of widespread knowledge about this massacre in the western world and hopes to change this through this book. The author tragically took her own life after a mental illness in 2004. But her legacy continues through this amazing book. ...more
although more could be written on each bloke, this is a fascinating look at action stars of the 80s and 90s. the narrative follows from late 70s to mialthough more could be written on each bloke, this is a fascinating look at action stars of the 80s and 90s. the narrative follows from late 70s to mid 90s. america, looking for a win after vietnam, culture shock and unemployment welcomed 1 man macho action movies in the 80s; By the 90s, cold war had ended, vietnam forgotten, CGI & vulnerable heroes introduced which marked the end of the era of these action movies. the book details the stories behind all the famous action movies of 80s and 90s which boils down to some interesting facts like stallone reworking most scripts to his liking, crazy fued between JCVD and steve segal, arnold delierately chosing "Twins" to soften his image etc.
Along with CGI, die hard was a milestone film in late 80s as it inroduced a new type of action hero, a hero that got hurt and showed emotions on screen and was happy to call the cops first. a lot of imitations of die hard followed though the first remains novel as ever.
most of these action stars moved to other things from mid 90s and stayed relevant (to varying degrees) for many more years. the action genre also changed from accepting movies led by female action stars to having cgi heavy franchise action movies. but theres always something sweet and raw about these 80s and 90s ("popcorny") action flicks.
This is a recap of Mumbai mafia from early 70s to early 90s. It focuses on Dalwood and his mentor, khalid. Khalid, educated and a wrestler got involveThis is a recap of Mumbai mafia from early 70s to early 90s. It focuses on Dalwood and his mentor, khalid. Khalid, educated and a wrestler got involved with a mumbai Don cum silver smuggler. Blinded by power and riches he made his boss bashu, extremely rich by smuggling gold from dubai from the Iranian Arab dubai based GAladari brothers. Then he moved to diamond smuggling. Bashu got jealous and cut him from the gang. But then indias emergency put a lot of these smugglers , including haji mastan and karim lala along either bashu, in jail. When they arrived Dalwood had setup his own gang and was robbing and threatening these old weak mafia bosses. With no one to challenge him, dawood setup his own gang and brought khalid as his 2nd in command. Khalid brought his smuggling contacts with him and dawood started getting mega rich. Khalid brought vision , scale of ops, smuggling knowhow, physical training and discipline into dawood life. Pathans , jealous of dawood rising power, struck at him and killed his brother. Dawood hit back and killed a bunch of pathans and wiped out their leaders. Khalid was with dawood during these war years. Eventually khalid got weary of dawood cutting khalid galadari contact and replacing them with pakistani smugglers. Dawood was also trying to become his own man and get out of khalid shadow. Khalid was also hurt by dawood lack of any strong character and morals and his incessant will to dominate others using money or threats. For dawood it was simple ,: you are weak if you are not strong. Khalid and dawood split ways in late 80s and khalid left smuggling around 1992.
Today dawood and khalid still remain in touch and are amicable. But both are a shadow of their previous power and wealth in 70s and 80s....more
off the bat, i learnt a lot from this book. Its an informative entry into the world of american islam. Though it deals with how a group of hanafi mjslioff the bat, i learnt a lot from this book. Its an informative entry into the world of american islam. Though it deals with how a group of hanafi mjslims took over 3 buildings hostage in 1977, it traces the history of that conflict decades ago. We meet Nation of Islam characters, specifically how Elijah came to dominate it (& enrich himself peronsally through it). Khaalis, the man who brokeaway from the Nation to a sunni (hanafi) version of islam was marked by the Nation's criminal elements (the Black mafia org) that had seeped into some chapters of the Nation. Ultimately, possibly under Elijah's OK, after some public letters of condemnation by Khaalis, his house was attacked and his children - grandchildren massacred.
The hostage crisis 4 years later was possibly a reaction to that attack than to force a ban on the messenger movie by an immigrant Muslim, Akkad (who shot it in Morrocco and Libya).
Finally, the crisis ended peacefully though 1 guy was shot. Khaalis died in prison, Nation of Islam broke off into another faction, Elijahs successor Wallace lost political capital in US mainstream while also declaring bankruptcy.
There have been attempts to take over the role of American caliph after Elijah, Khaalis and Wallace but there has been a leadership void mostly since the 80s. ...more
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