A weekend, two birthdays, Sarkar Raj and a long forgotten author

Last weekend was packed with a lot of to-dos. The beginning of the weekend saw us usher in the new sofa. the sentimentalist in me wept for the wrought iron sofa that left us. The attachment for that is pretty explicable: it was our first sofa (so what if it was a second hand one?) and it was witness to a lot of things close to my heart. Arrival of Meeshu for instance and it withstood  many parties, not to mention the number of times Meeshu peed on her :). Thanks Greenie (a name i just gave you), for making our lives so memorable...it was really difficult to let you go.

We decided to spend Saturday together (without Mish mash). So had some A class lunch at Ista, over a few glasses of Red wine, and went staggering into the Fame cinema to watch Sarkar Raj. I clearly loved it much more than Sarkar. Especially the last 15 minutes. When the 'strategy' unfolds. When Amitabh gets into the act. And guys do check out Ramu's blog : http://rgvarma.spaces.live.com/ . The two little things i didn't like about the film was the way Tanisha's death was handled ...I thought it was a  little insensitive (not the death, but the reactions of Amitabh, Abhishek and Supriya pathak). And secondly, even if it was a subtle suggestion of Aishwarya's romantic interest in Abhishek, i think it was unnecessary. But dispite everything, a master's stroke. And its ok for RGV to make movies based on power, politics, underworld and mafia. really. Why should it bother anyone, as long as he makes brilliant films on these subjects? Raj puts it very well in these lines: 'Imagine Manoj Night Shyamalan making a musical.......just let RGV be. He is good with this stuff''. LOL.

Aadi (my bro's son) and Raj share the same birthday. So 8 June saw a few rounds of Tequilla and some family bonding. Aadi's 1 sounded so significant vis-a-vis a boring old and BIG 31. Raj, you are now, officially in the 'uncle' category. Sunday also saw Raj in a true blue Bong mood. He went berserk with fish. Apart from the usual rau, katla and murgi, he bought 'Tengra' maach (a variety of fish), and he also made a special request for 'Kosha Mangsho' in Tina's kitchen, on his 'Happy birthday' . Sad that Spar didn't stock Mutton that day.

And  now for the long forgotten author: Jeffrey Archer. When Raj saw me reading Archer's latest offering - 'A prisoner of Birth' he took a moment to comment. He thought I had 'outgrown' Jeffrey Archer. Well, I never really out grew any author you know. I'd gladly read an Enid Blyton, a Sidney Sheldon or even a Mills and Boons for the matter. Its all about the frame of mind - just the way one's mood dictates the music you listen to. Anyway, so here i was, over the weekend, glued to JA's Prisoner of Birth. It seemed to irk Raj a bit, because I refused to part with it - be it in loo or on the breakfast table. Well thrillers do this to you, and, I was reading one after a really long time. And I must admit, I loved this book as much as I enjoyed Kane and Abel. it was an average book, really. It had the same old masala of  a prisoner's life, the usual murder, and the very very usual courtroom drama. It was in fact very very filmy. But i still enjoyed it. And I realised I must read more thrillers - they make me so enthusiastic and energetic, unlike a Chitra Banerji, who only makes me more critical. (No no, that doesn't mean I will stop reading her, just a little break, that's all.)

So much for now.