Posted in Blog on Jul 25th, 2005
Saw The Interpreter.
Caught it at Fame, Andheri, where, I’m relieved to report, the projection is just as good as ever (I hadn’t been there for a few months, and if you recall, I grumbled recently about how Fun Republic’s projection has deteriorated).
Now, for some people the big name in that movie is Nicole […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 23rd, 2005
This one is part of the unfinished introduction to a non-fiction book I was to write on Stephen King.
It was meant to be part of the Pocket Essentials series, a set of little pocket-sized books, all exactly 100 pages, published in the UK.
I’d earlier written a Bollywood Pocket Essential, which sold quite well. (It sold […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 22nd, 2005
Hi there.
This is your not-so-friendly neighbourhood (neighbouring galaxy, that is) Imperial Commander, Darth Da Rockin’ Vader here.
I needed a change of pace on the music front.
Something that would shake things up, be unpredictable, yet be pacy, throbbing, circulation-enhancing.
(…As you might guess, I’m writing a major battle sequence!)
So here’s what I came up with: […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 19th, 2005
(This one was written about ten years ago, possibly before that.
In any case, it features the same series character from a previous story I posted earlier on this same blog, Flesh Songs. And she even featured in her own novel, The Iron Bra, published in 1993.
Today, with Ram Gopal Varma’s realistic Mumbai underworld […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 18th, 2005
Saw Fantastic Four on the weekend, at Fame Adlabs.
I don’t know if this is just my imagination, but the projection at Fun Republic just isn’t up to the mark anymore. Maybe it wasn’t, from the very beginning, but it certainly seems worse now.
I’ve noticed dirt in the projector gate, fibres, out of focus reels, […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 15th, 2005
This interview appeared earlier on Rediff.com.
I can’t say I’m any kind of expert on Native American literature - far from it - but I have read a few texts.
What intrigued me then, and still does, is that Native American literature, while being the authentic voice of a near-extinct people, is judged almost entirely in […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 12th, 2005
Saw Sarkar this weekend.
For those of you who don’t know, I’m an inveterate Ram Gopal Varma fan.
I’ve been following the man’s career for a while now, and make it a habit to watch any film by him on the first weekend of its release.
Not only because I like his work so damn much - […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 9th, 2005
Another oldie-but-goldie (I hope) from my Rediff.com days. This one’s about medical thrillers. I haven’t read a new one in years, but note that Michael Palmer and F. Paul Wilson are still turning them out.
BOOK CHAAT
by Ashok Banker
Strangers with Scalpels
Beware the men and women in white, advises Ashok Banker
What is it about hospitals that frighten […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 8th, 2005
This is another of my old media columns, written in one of my more tongue-in-cheek moods.
I thought it would make a nice change of pace. :~)
BRAND BAAJA
Ashok Banker
Three avatars of Ecstasy
Last issue, I wrote about prophets of the media age. A day later, I learn that Deepak Chopra is writing a “steamy novel” (the article […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 7th, 2005
Here’s a curiosity I found in my old files.
A column I wrote as (relatively) recently as 2000, published in my weekly Book Chaat column on Rediff.com.
Guess what it’s about?
The Ramayana.
Now, this is during the same period that I was reading extensively in the ancient epics, history, etc.
But as you can see from this piece […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 5th, 2005
Well, you asked for it.
And here it is.
The Epic India Group is back again.
It’s been a long hiatus, longer than expected.
But hopefully, it’s been worth the wait.
Those of you who are wondering, what’s this Epic India thingie, well, it’s simple.
It’s an email discussion group for anybody who enjoys discussing anything to do with India, […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 5th, 2005
It’s a well-known fact that authors don’t take criticism well.
When confronted with a reviewer’s opinion of their book, they’re apt to go off the edge, frothing at the mouth with anger and self-righteous indignation.
Often, their frustration is justified. Critics can be brutal at times, getting personal about authors’ characters, lives, even their families.
But […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 4th, 2005
Vertigo: A novel by Ashok Banker
Featured Comment by Amit Varma, on his popular blog
India Uncut
Banking on passion
Ashok Banker, in an interview with Sonia Faleiro, says:
I don’t think I’m a very talented writer, but I have passion. What I lack in stylistic or linguistic dexterity, and sheer artistry, I make up for with fecundity, fire, and […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 4th, 2005
This little snippet on Armies appeared in The Indian Express, New Delhi, on Sunday, July 3, 2005.
It’s part of an interesting piece on new books, Indian and foreign. So I was in good company.
Take a look at the full article by clicking on the blog-post title (above).
And for those of you who are […]
Posted in Blog on Jul 4th, 2005
These are excerpts from an inteview I did with Sonia Faleiro for Tehelka, which appeared in the issue dated July 2, 2005.
I was pleasantly shocked for a change to see a journalist report my words almost exactly as I said them, without watering them down or subverting them in any way.
I’m known for my no-BS […]
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