The Best From The World Of Entertainment And Books: Indiana Jones, Maidaan, Varavara Rao and more

Films 

Veteran actor Harrison Ford reprises his role as daredevil, adventure-junkie and archaeologist Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In this fifth segment of the beloved series of films, Indy is on the verge of retirement and feeling out of place in a world far from the one he remembers. When his goddaughter (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame) shows up determined to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history, Indy must pick up his whip once more to keep the treasure from falling into the wrong hands, namely those of Jürgen Voller—played by Mads Mikkelsen—a former Nazi working for NASA. The film is set to be out in theatres on 29 June.

Filmmakers could hardly go wrong fronting a film that has two of India’s biggest fixes—sports and drama. The popularity of movies like Lagaan, Chak De! India, and 83 certainly proves the rule and director Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s (the man behind Badhai Ho) is set to follow suit on 23 June with the release of Maidaan. Scored by A. R. Rahman and starring Ajay Devgn essaying the role of Syed Abdul Rahim (known as the architect of modern Indian football) and National Award winner Keerthy Suresh (making her Hindi film debut) this movie is about the golden era of Indian football, from 1952 to 1962. 

A remake of the 2011 French film Sleepless Night, Bloody Daddy revolves around an NCB officer (Shahid Kapoor) and his quest to save his son from a drug lord. After his team busts down a narco-tics scam, the drug lord abducts the NCB officer’s son. He demands the officer retrieve a bag of cocaine from his headquarters in exchange for his son. With no other option left, the officer decides to do as he is asked, only to find that things are more complicated than he expected. A high-octane thriller that appears to parallel the adrenaline rush of the John Wick franchise, Bloody Daddy will be available for viewing on JioCinema from 9 June.

#WatchList: Series on our Radar

The Days This eight-episode series depicts the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in 2011 over a period of seven days. Made from the three perspectives of the government, corporate organizations, and those who put their lives on the line, the show tries to uncover what really happened on that day and in that place. The series is on Netflix from 1 June.

School Of Lies is a thriller–suspense series starring Nimrat Kaur, Varin Roopani, Vir Pachisia and Aryan Singh Ahlawat. Based on true events, it tells the story of a young boy who disappears from a boarding school. The plot thickens when a slew of grim details about the school and the boy’s family come to light during the investigation. On Disney+Hotstar from 2 June.

Books

A Lost People’s Archive: A Novel by Rimli Sengupta, Aleph

Based on the tales and records found in her grandmother’s notebook, author Rimli Sengupta’s latest book weaves the story of two neighbours, Shishu and Noni, who meet as children and develop a deep friendship strengthened by their shared love of stories and poetry. Soon however their paths diverge under the dark shadow of circumstance—Noni is married off at 16, while Shishu becomes a revolutionary—and cataclysmic events—Partition, a refugee exodus, communism as well as political and social unrest in Bengal. Told through an artful fusion of imagination with history, both personal and national, Sengupta brings alive the story of Bangals—the displaced East Bengalis—and the narrative of their fractured land and lives.

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India’s Secret War: BSF And Nine Months To The Birth Of Bangladesh by Ushinor Majumdar (Penguin): Through exhaustive interviews with surviving veterans, Ushinor Majumdar brings his award-winning investigative reportage to this first comprehensive historical account of the role of the BSF, an elite Indian force, in the Bangladesh liberation war, which changed the course of South Asian history.

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Epicurious by Sreelata Menon (Hachette): Using drama and humour that engages young readers, Menon breathes new life into ancient epics from cultures and countries around the world.

Varavara Rao: A Life In Poetry (Vintage): Edited by N. Venugopal and Meena Kandasamy, this is Varavara Rao’s first book of poetry to be published in English.

Dreams, Illusion and Other Realities by Wendy Doniger (Speaking Tiger): Scholar and indologist, Wendy Doniger analyses stories from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other texts to explore the role of dreams and illusions in Indian myth and philosophy.