Unpublished Reviews

Inshallah Bangladesh: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution

On the front cover of INSHALLAH BANGLADESH: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution – co-authored by Deep Halder, Jaideep Mazumdar and Shahidul Hasan Khokon – is the tagline, “Includes an exclusive with Sheikh Hasina”. That exclusive features in Chapter 7 of the book, summarizing a 13-minute telephonic conversation of the authors with the ousted premier of Bangladesh, in exile in India, on 7 June 2025. Certain sections of it are block quotes; one instance being Hasina spouting a (by now,widely circulated) conspiracy theory:

Don’t call it a revolution! […] It was a terror attack on Bangladesh disguised as a student revolt planned by America and executed by Pakistan. It was done to remove me from power. Whether it was Abu Sayed or other student leaders, the killings were not done by the police. They were killed by terrorists and the killings were passed off as police brutality to turn the public against my government.

Umrao Jaan

If heartache could have a face, it has to be Rekha's – as and in UMRAO JAAN. In the film's second half.

The tawaif
The first half of Muzzafar Ali's classic, based on a novel by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, traces the unfortunate - though not uncommon - tale of a young girl sold to a 'kotha' by an uncle (at a time she was already engaged) and brought up by mercenary women (played by Shaukat Kaifi and Dina Pathak) masquerading as mother-figures who look upon her only as an investment.

All Our Loves

The blurb was arresting enough: "ALL OUR LOVES: Journeys with Polyamory in India is an eye-opening book on polyamory—the practice of being in love with or without sexual intimacies with more than one person simultaneously, with the consent of all—in India."

Puratawn

Suman Ghosh's ‘Puratawn’is essentially a loving and languid exploration of decay – both in living beings and the lived environment. Whether it is the gnarled roots of an ancient tree, the twisted veins visible on the skin of an octogenarian woman, or the crumbling bricks of an old mansion, we are invited to witness and acknowledge the continuity of life within decay; of the workings of slow time. The onset of dementia in a mother’s life - and how it’s dealt with - is only one strand in this larger narrative.

Priyanka Gupta’s Journeys Beyond and Within: In search of oneself through travel & return

Priyanka Gupta’s Journeys Beyond and Within…an Indian woman’s life-changing travel adventures, its blurb tells us “is the travel memoir of a small-city girl who never dreamt of travelling the world”. What shines in the book, above everything else, is the determination of this young Indian woman (who began her writing life as a blogger) to push against the boundaries set for her.