[HerStoryRecommends] Tell yourself Apna Time Aayega with Gully Boy and hear Sita’s voice of reason in The Forest of Enchantments – our top picks of the week
In HerStory Recommends this week, we celebrate hip-hop with Gully Boy and finally learn how to tidy up that mess with cleanup guru Marie Kondo.
Apna Time Aayega
Ever since the Gully Boy trailer was released, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the film, with the catchy lyrics Apna Time Aayega taking the nation by storm. And believe me, all the hype is worth it – the film is two-and-a-half hours of incredible energy, terrific story-telling, and great acting without any of the drama associated with a Bollyood movie rags-to-riches story. The film is inspired by the lives of underground hip-hop artistes Naezy and Divine. Ranveer Singh as Murad, is aware of his circumstances and the anger within, but he channels it by rapping about it – whether it’s life in a slum, his family dynamics, or his love for Safeena (Alia Bhatt) because he knows that Apna Time Aayega. The rise of Murad to a hip-hop artiste is not his journey alone but the faith, support and unbridled love the fiesty Safeena has for him. Alia holds her own against the powerful Murad storyline and comes out a winner. Director Zoya Akhtar has made the film as authentic as possible – with striking lyrics, thumping beats, powerful rap battles, stunning visuals of Mumbai, and getting her actors into the skin of their roles. Go watch Gully Boy now, and may the energy be with you!
(Gully Boy, now in theatres)
Sita’s story
Apart from the Ramayana, many books have been written on Sita, focusing on her life as a queen, a dutiful wife, a loving mother, but in the end, always a wronged woman. The Forest of Enchanments by Chitra Banerjeee Divakaruni follows the same path, but here, the story is told in Sita’s voice. The story traces every aspect of Sita’s life, from her growing-up years, meeting Ram, being banished to the forest, her abduction by Ravan, coming back to Ayodhya, becoming queen, being banished again during her pregnancy, and her final return to earth. The continuous doubts on her chastity and purity tug at the heart strings as Chitra weaves in a gamut of emotions that show how helpless the strong queen is in the face of a “righteous” husband. Sita’s words meander between doubts, questioning, and acceptance, but it’s the questions that linger. Is a woman, whether she’s a goddess or a subject, never accepted for who she is – a woman with her own rights and desires? Sita here is also the story of other characters – Urmila, Soorpanakha, Mandodari, Ahalya and others, whose stories need to be told to get a better understanding of the Ramayana. While the story of Sita in the Forest of Enchantments may not be new, but the voice is just right, powerful and all-encompassing.
(The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni)
Cut the clutter with Marie Kondo
This one’s been around for a while now, but we never got around to talking about it – cutting the clutter, I mean. And then comes Marie Kondo who encourages, so shall we say, exhorts us to tidy up. Her Netflix show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, is a runaway rage. Her bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying was a kind of precursor to what was to come via a Netflix show. The show itself is quriky – she goes around telling Americans how to clean up – and that when in doubt, throw it out. She does not make any fleeting judgements, and that’s endearing – rather she is empathetic towards the way people live or care about their choices. While all of us know that it makes sense to tidy up, but sometimes we need a Marie Kondo to tell us how to do it.
(Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix)
Do you have a book, movie, music, a product or an app you think should make it to the HerStory Recommends list? Do write to me at [email protected])