Being a huge fan of 18th and 19th century British Literature, it’s always a pleasure to discover a new writer from the era. A friend of mine recommended that I read Elizabeth Gaskell. So off I went to the bookstore and picked up  ‘Cranford and Other Stories’. I loved it. Gaskell’s work although entirely original is at the same time a hybrid of Jane Austin plot-lines and Charles Dickens humor. A few months ago, I…

Majid Majidi’s movies have always impressed me. I was amazed by the simple story about a pair of shoes in Children of Heaven and I loved the depiction of alienation of blind people in The Color of Paradise. I recently watched Baran that delved in the softer aspects of love amidst political turmoil. The Plot Baran depicts the conflicts arising in Iran as Afghani refugees come into the country during the Soviet Union’s war in…

For those who are unfamiliar, “Mamma Mia” is a famous Broadway production that weaves a narrative through ABBA songs. The plot itself is quite uncomplicated: Sophie, a young woman in her twenties, is on the verge of getting married on a picturesque Greek island. Raised by her single mother, Donna, Sophie is resolute in unraveling the mystery of her paternity. Using her mother’s diary, Sophie narrows her search to three potential fathers and invites them…

It was a mixed group of us who went to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Part 1). Some of us were die-hard fans of the books, some of us die-hard fans of the movies and had never read the book and some of us just wanted to watch an interesting movie. And not one of us liked it. I just love the HP books and have been time and again moderately disappointed by…