Jalatil masa (जळातील मासा) by Jaywant Dalvi (जयवंत दळवी)

"Jalatil masa (जळातील मासा)" a Marathi (मराठी) book by Jaywant Dalvi (जयवंत दळवी). This edition of the book is published by Saket prakashan (साकेत प्रकाशन) in 2014 (first edition 1961) and has 120 pages. I read the book through Grantha Tumchya Dari (ग्रंथ तुमच्या दारी) scheme of Kusumagraj Pratishthan (कुसुमाग्रज प्रतिष्ठान). This book is a collection of 12 short stories.

'Jalatil masa (जळातील मासा)' is the story of a lonely old Catholic man who can not forget Milinda, a salesgirl, who spent a night with him twenty years ago.
In 'Anolkhi (अनोळखी)', Appa attends college function of his daughter and meets a lady who looks much like his deceased wife.
'Vyatha (व्यथा)', middle aged Anuradha has taken Sanyas but had she really dissociated herself from the material things?
'Mangu (मंगू)' is the story of a boy in 2nd standard and his antics during the absence of his parents, one Sunday.
'Anamikachi kshanchitre (अनामिकाची क्षणचित्रे)' are highlights of the life of a man who is ugly, deformed and unsuccessful.
In 'Smrutishesh (स्मृतिशेष)' a man visits his widowed ex lover for a purpose after a gap of 25 years. What's the purpose?
In 'Indrayani (इंद्रायणी)', Devdatta an invalid husband doubts that his wife has an illicit relationship with her boss. Does she?
In 'Jagan (जगन)' school children decide to publish a handwritten Diwali magazine. How much politics and plagiarism can there be?
'Kalya ani paklya (कळ्या आणि पाकळ्या)' is the depiction of mind, emotions & romanticism of a young girl and her parents; her reference of love.
Gopi (गोपी), a priest, lusts Kalindi. He wants her, wants to marry her. When the opportunity knocks, is he ready?
In 'Sasa (ससा)' a man meets a beautiful young lady in a railway compartment. He wants to say a lot, can he?
'Anarsa (अनरसा)' is the story of delivery of a lady who has eaten Anarsa (an Indian sweet) during solar eclipse against the tradition.

I liked Indrayani, Jagan and Smrutishesh however Gopi was the best from this book. Average length of each story is about ten pages.

Nine out of twelve stories have a strong but implied undercurrent of sex or physical attraction. Two stories have children protagonists.

All the stories are abstract and handle one specific instance in the life of the protagonist. Most stories end at a point which leaves the reader hanging. I had a feeling of something missing in most of the stories. Was it by design?

It's a small book, I completed it in two days.

Not a must read. Give it a miss.

Scandal Point by Fahad Samar

"Scandal Point" debut novel by Fahad Samar. This book is published by HarperCollins publishers India in 2013 and has 289 pages. Fahad is a filmmaker. He has directed TV shows like BPL Oye! , Superhit Muqabla and The Poppudam Show.

Kapil Kumar, is a yesteryear superstar, well known for his brash language, his penchant for bedding his female co-stars and his ego. He decides to launch his handsome and attractive son, Ricky Kumar, as a hero in Bollywood film that he will right, produce and direct. It would be a remake of his super hit film. Gautam Goyal, is a handsome, arrogant and drug addict son of billionaire NRI Mr. Goyal, who owns a chain of Indian restaurants. He comes to Mumbai for detoxification. Paths of Ricky and Gautam cross. Not once, not twice but many times.

Ricky hates Gautam. Why? What happens to the movie? What about rehabilitation? Who are Sheena and Meneka? How does Bollywood, business and politics interact? Where will the story go?

This is a tale of film industry. An industry that is vengeful, slutty, partial, ruthless and extravagant. All the masala ingredients are present in this book. It has affairs, sex, oneupmanship, corruption, film making, hidden agenda, sibling rivalry, drug scandal and revenge. It is a web of deceit, lies, lack of trust and scandals. All the characters are entangled in this web.

The story is scattered all over the place. Although it has all the ingredients what is missing is order. It appears that everything is thrown in together without the unified and homogeneous effect. Author has tried to put too many spices in the pot pourri hoping that the recipe will come out trumps, but none of the spices has had the desired effect resulting in a confused taste. In the end Fahad outdid himself in making it unbelievably scandalous in an attempt to bring the story to conclusion and close the loop.

Fahad should have chosen a smaller canvas to make the novel more effective. He knows how to  captivate audience should have kept it up through out the book. Many incidents are taken from real life of the film personalities and knowledgeable readers can recognize the origin.

It is more of a nude rendition of film industry than a tasteful and artistic portrait. What is the significance of 'Scandal Point'? It's only the name of a pub where the story starts. More appropriate name for the book would have been 'Scandal'.

An OK book. Read if scandals interest you.