[HerStoryRecommends] Laakhon Mein Ek on Amazon is hard-hitting; curl up with a murder mystery with The Flower Girls – our top picks of the week

As bizarre as Bollywood

The much-awaited Alia Bhatt-Madhuri Dixit starrer Kalank despite the younger actor’s publicised kathak swirls fails to entirely live up to the hype. And another thing, stunning visual effects do not make for a great film if you do not have a strong storyline. The story gets off on a bizarre note – Satya (Sonakshi Sinha) is sick and dying and wants her husband to remarry not before her death, but immediately so she compels Roop (Alia Bhatt) to do the honour, whose fate might just turn because she is being married into the wealthy Chaudhary (Sanjay Dutt) family.

On the balcony one night, Roop hears a beautiful voice, which turns to be that of a courtesan’s Bahaar Begum (Madhuri Dixit) from Lahore’s red-light district. She decides to learn singing from her, then falls in love with a blacksmith, Zafar (Varun Dhawan). And what have you? A movie that’s so bizarrely Bollywood that you are happy you left your brains at home. Kalank is not for those with many questions – if you want a breezy weekend watch, this is it.

(Kalank – now in theatres)

Also read: AR Rahman is extremely fun to work with and brings out the best in me, says singing sensation Jonita Gandhi

The truth about real India

If you loved Laakhon Mein Ek – Season 1, a web series from stand-up comic Biswa Kalyan Rath, that followed the struggles of IIT aspirants in a coaching centre, you’ll love Season 2 even more. It’s not a sequel, but this time, Biswa takes us on a journey of an ideal young doctor Shreya Pathare (Shweta Tripathi) who faces many challenges at a government hospital, especially when she has to organise a cataract camp.

Everything comes into play at the right moment - government machinations with apathy, gender differences, stereotypes, and of course, ignorance to round them all. Then there’s the media that jumps into the fray for further effect – and you have a grim portrayal of circumstances in rural India. Highly recommended.

(Laakhon Mein Ek – Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video)

Murder mystery

One of the earliest books to be released this year, The Flower Girls is a thriller from Alice Clark-Platts, which opens with a huge storm where a child Georgie goes missing from a hotel in Devon. Where did she disappear? Will they able to race against time and rescue her? It’s here where protagonists Laurel and Primrose are introduced.

They are known to the world as The Flower Girls because they were involved in a horrific crime when Primrose was just six years older, and her sister a bit older than her. Laurel is convicted of murder and the other is given a new identity. Now 19 years later, they are caught in the spotlight again with Georgie’s disappearance. What happens next? Will the truth of the past finally come out? The Flower Girls is definitely an interesting weekend read.

(The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platt)

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])

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