Book Review: ‘Criminal Love? – Queer Theory, Culture, And Politics In India’ By R. Raj Rao
Published by SAGE Publications Rao's book is a collection of nine essays strung around themes of investigating an every-person view of queer theory.
Archive for the category Reviews
Reviews of Queer films, books, events and everything else under the colorful rainbow
169 posts
Tele Series Review: A ‘Special’ Encounter
‘Special’, a blithe yet profound comedy – is an authentic, first-hand account of O’Connell’s life as a gay man with mild cerebral palsy. The series consists of 8 episodes, all of which last an approximate duration of 15 minutes per episode.
TW: Repeated Mentions Of Depression And Anxiety. Some Mention Of Suicide.
The stories are interspersed with advice from psychologist Arpita Anand, and the collection is broken down based on different forms of depression and therapy, dealing with everything from Clinical Depression to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and also tackling Post-Partum Depression.
Film Review: “If You Dare Desire” By Debalina Majumder
If You Dare Desire (or Abar Jaadi Ichcha Kardo) directed by Debalina Majumder, wishes a hopeful trajectory of Swapna and Sucheta’s life, one where they do not leave a six-page suicide letter but run away from their village to be together.
Book Review – “Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience” By Anuradha Bhagwati
As I read this book, I was shaken; recognising myself in characters/people I didn’t particularly like and realising things about my own securely held beliefs is not a comfortable feeling (albeit a necessary one). It encouraged me, gently but firmly, to step out outside my worldview to digest what it means to serve your country.
Book Review: “Less” By Andrew Sean Greer
Less is an episodic and satirical picaresque tale about an almost-fifty gay author who concludes that the best way to avoid lovelorn misery is a literature and food-fueled trip around the world.
Podcast Review: “Welcome to Night Vale” By Jeffrey Cranor And Joseph Fink
From the get go Welcome to Night Vale has proved to be a queer friendly podcast.
Review ‘Gay Icons of India’: The Audacity Of Identities
The premise of the book explores the very basics of homosexuality and what it means in the Indian contexts. It captures not nuanced sociological theories but instead the religious and indigenous understanding and hostility towards it.
Film Review ‘Shaadi Ke Kapde’: A Much Needed Effort To Visibilise Transmen
From the expansive shots of Mumbai, we are eased into the ground with Sunny standing in a lift while their neighbours eye their masculinized attire.
Book Review: ‘Guthli Has Wings’ By Kanak Shashi
A simple book, with vibrant illustrations, the colours taking you through the many emotions that Guthli, a child, like any child with hopes, has!
Book Review: ‘The Song of Achilles’ By Madeline Miller
'The Song of Achilles' is a book based on the mythology, and supposed relationship of Achilles, a half-god who was destined to be the best warrior of his generation, and Patroclus, an awkward, prince disliked by his father, who is exiled to live in Achilles' kingdom, along with several other exiled princes.
Music Video Review: “Nothing For Our Own” By Hanita Bhambri
How many times in your life do you fall in love with someone? How many times is it reciprocated? Does the reciprocation look similar to your expectations?
Book Review: The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles)
The thing that I liked the most about the book from the very beginning was how naturally it flows and how real the characters are.
Book Review: “A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi – A Candid Biography of India’s First Transgender Principal” By Manobi Bandhopadhyay with Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey
Manobi, like most trans persons, has lived through her share of ordeals to emerge resilient. Furthermore, she has formidable credentials, with a PhD in Bengali Literature and authorship to multiple other books, magazines, and hundreds of newspaper articles.
Film Review: Super Deluxe
Super Deluxe steals you away for the entire show. It’s a brilliant piece of work. Unfortunately, in the theatre, I heard a few mocking laughs and snickers during the scenes with Shilpa, who is transgender.
Book Review: “The Scent of God” By Saikat Majumdar
Located not so long ago in the 20th Century, the story goes like this - a young boy finds lust and love in the company of a classmate at the ashram where he holes up with a brood of other boys and manly monks.
Book Review: Straight To Normal: “My Life As A Gay Man” By Sharif D. Rangnekar
This first step into this world, into his community, was filled with uncertainly, confusion, and fear. It is for most people. Going into something and not knowing what one is going to find there is certainly one of the most vulnerable positions to put oneself in.
Review: Amazon Prime Original “Made in Heaven”
Through all the social commentary the show has tried to touch, it has really only done justice to surface concepts of class and sexuality that the newest working and earning generation of the subcontinent has begun to come to terms with.
Book Review: “I’m Afraid Of Men” By Vivek Shraya
The book is slim at just under 96 pages but impressively well-rounded, reading as diary writings with intimate reflections on Shraya’s complicated relationship with men, or rather masculinity.
Review: “The Good Child” A Comedy Special By Navin Noronha
Noronha was as madly funny as ever, cracking us up with new material as well as putting a different spin on some old anecdotes of his life.
