The Best From The World Of Entertainment And Books: The Green Book, Wallace and Gromit and More

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, On Netflix on 3 January

The British artist and director Nick Park is (rightly) considered one of the savants of the world of animation. He popularized the ‘claymation’ technique among creators around the world and the most famous example of his work is the Wallace and Gromit series of animated films. Wallace is a good-hearted but rather absent-minded inventor, who is perpetually amazed by new technology. His loyal and intelligent dog Gromit usually has to fish his master out of trouble with a combination of quick wits and athleticism.

In the latest movie, Vengeance Most Fowl, Park brings back one of the series’ most popular villains, a diabolical penguin called Feathers McGraw who uses his superficial cuteness to manipulate people and recruit them to his grand schemes.

Presence, In theatres on 24 January

Steven Soderbergh is one of the most prolific and acclaimed filmmakers working in Hollywood today, the maker of Traffic, Magic Mike, Ocean’s Eleven—monster hits each belonging to a different genre, a different decade. His latest sees Soderbergh taking on a classical horror-movie trope—a married couple moves into a creepy old mansion only to realize that they may not be alone in there. The Dad here is played by Chris Sullivan (Toby from the super-popular soap This is Us). He is joined by the consistently brilliant Lucy Liu who has of late been utterly wasted in superhero snooze-fests (Shazam: Fury of the Gods) and voice roles in tired animation movies (The Tiger’s Apprentice).

Paatal Lok (S2) On Amazon Prime Video on 17 January

Arguably the finest web-series to come out of India, Sudip Sharma’s crime drama Paatal Lok is back for its long-awaited second season; Sharma is the acclaimed writer of films like Udta Punjab and NH10. The first season, based on the Tarun Tejpal novel Story of My Assassins, was a breakthrough success for both Amazon India and its stars, especially Abhishek Banerjee who played the hammer-wielding, dead-eyed assassin Hathoda Tyagi.

It will be fascinating to see how Sharma and co. take the story forward, beyond the scope of the source-novel. Expect more corrupt newsrooms, crooked politicians and eccentric villains—a bit more of Swastika Mukherjee’s fascinating, depressed dog-lover Dolly Mehra wouldn’t hurt, either.

We Do Not Part by Han Kang, Paige Aniyah Morris (tr.), Hogarth

We Do Not Part is the first novel-in-translation from South Korean writer Han Kang (The Vegetarian) after being awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. The narrative follows Kyungha after she receives a frantic phone call from her old friend Injeon, injured while conducting research on Jeju Island. 

Airlifted to Seoul for surgery, she has to leave her beloved pet bird behind. Kyungha undertakes a perilous journey to save her friend’s bird and in doing so, comes face-to-face with the covert history of Injeon’s family, including a real-life, decades-old massacre carried out on the island and systematically repressed from public memory afterwards.

The Green Book by Amitava Kumar, HarperCollins India

Subtitled ‘An Observer’s Notebook’, this is the third book in the series following The Blue Book (2022) and The Yellow Book (2023). These books offer fascinating insights not only into the writer’s methods and his creative preoccupations—but also what the writer makes of his immediate surroundings on a day-to-day basis. 

As the name suggests, The Green Book is concerned with the way our “fast-heating planet” is transforming before our very eyes, the green of germinating plants replaced by the green of freshly-minted dollar bills. Kumar is especially attentive to the ways in which trees are used in symbolism across world literature, cinema and culture. Filled with the author’s own sketches and paintings that expand upon the theme, The Green Book is a gift for readers and nature-lovers alike.

True Story of a Writer, a Philosopher and a Shape-Shifter by Paul Zacharia, Penguin Random House

Paul Zacharia is one of the most acclaimed writers to come out of Kerala. This latest novel takes us into the world of ‘Lord Spider’, an author of popular fiction, and his philosopher wife Rosi. When this unlikely duo is asked to write an essay on compassion by the Revolutionary Party, they realize they need help of the unconventional kind. Enter J. L. Pillai, voyeur and executioner, and a man who can give the husband-and-wide duo a run for their money when it comes to lying and deception. 

But are lies always in the service of the devil? An allegorical tale deeply informed by Kerala’s social and political histories, this novel sees Zacharia at his satirical best.

Small Changes by Michael Kiwanuka 

Many of us still have fond memories of ‘Cold Little Heart’, the excellent opening credits song for the Nicole Kidman-Reese Witherspoon HBO drama Big Little Lies. Michael Kiwanuka, the British singer-songwriter responsible for that beautiful song, has a new album out called Small Changes, one that cements his reputation as one of the hottest soul/indie rock artists on the planet. 

The titular track and ‘Rebel Soul’ are Kiwanuka’s comfort zone, slow-burning ballads that showcase the singer’s distinct, gravelly vocals. On the two-part track ‘Lowdown’ he sounds like the closest thing to Bill Withers since Bill Withers. The album has once again been produced by Kiwanuka’s usual partner-in-crime, Brian Burton aka ‘Danger Mouse’, the virtuosic composer and producer who has previously worked magic with the likes of Norah Jones and Adele.

Bandish Bandits (S2) OST, Spotify

One of Amazon’s biggest streaming successes in India, Bandish Bandits is an accessible, sincere love story between Hindustani classical singer Radhe and fusion pop star Tamanna. Naturally, music plays a big part in proceedings. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s songs made season one memorable, and season 2’s soundtrack features cover versions of some of those songs. But the real story is the young Turks of season 2, people like Nikhita Gandhi, Ana Rehman and Siddharth Pandit. The dreampop-influenced ‘Khamakhaa’, composed by Pandit and sang by Gandhi, is better than 99 per cent of Bollywood songs you’ll hear these days. The Hindustani classical number ‘Nirmohiya’ will send purists into a state of bliss. This album is head and shoulders above any other music composed for Indian TV so far

The dreampop-influenced ‘Khamakhaa’, composed by Pandit and sang by Gandhi, is better than 99 per cent of Bollywood songs you’ll hear these days. The Hindustani classical number ‘Nirmohiya’ will send purists into a state of bliss. This album is head and shoulders above any other music composed for Indian TV so far.

Legacy by Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan

British journalist and broadcaster Afua Wilson joins the historian and writer Peter Frankopan on Legacy, a new podcast from Wondery, an outfit going through a purple patch in the podcasting space. The idea is to reassess the legacies of famous people in history across industries, especially those whose lifetimes were mired in controversy. 

Did Nina Simone, for example, deserve more credit than she got for her role in the Civil Rights Movement? Was Charles Dickens only a pioneering novelist or did he in fact unlock all-new business models for commercial writers? Just how big of a pervert was Pablo Picasso behind closed doors? These questions and more are approached here with sober-mindedness and a sense of capturing the bigger picture

Loved this? Check out more RD Recommended films, series, books and podcasts here!