Personally for me, 2019 wasn’t much different in the overall sense. Events towards the second half of the year did bring about some unexpected changes though.
There was a lot to like in the past year. There was also the ending of a TV show that made millions of folks discover that “We don’t know how to finish this story” is now the new normal.
Here are a few things from 2019 that stayed with me;
A book I liked
Dishoom: From Bombay with Love
“From Bombay With Love” by Dishoom (the restaurant in the UK) was the surprise package of the year, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The authors, Shamil and Kavi Thakrar are co-founders of Dishoom and Naved Nasir is the Executive Chef. It is liberally peppered with very interesting anecdotes, lip-smacking recipes, and some lovely photographs. It features many landmark areas around the South Bombay area (also my favourite part of the city).
Films I enjoyed
Ford v Ferrari
In a year that saw the release of superb films like Joker, Avengers: Endgame, The Irishman, Uncut Gems – all of which I watched, I’d have to say that my favourite was Ford v Ferrari, and not just because I’m an F1 fan otherwise. The true-life story revolves around Ford’s plan to defeat Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, the ultimate endurance test for both man and machine.
It was well-made with good attention to detail, and the actors were suited for their respective roles. As expected, there were creative liberties and embellishments, but overall, the film sticks to the true events. In India of course, there was a silly controversy with the Censor Board deciding to blur the images of glasses with alcohol, causing some scenes to look ridiculous.
Article 15
Article 15 is a part of the Indian Constitution which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The movie draws from some real-life incidents (which is quite common now) and is hard, gritty and dark as expected.
Ever since Vicky Donor was released, I’ve enjoyed watching movies of Ayushmann Khurrana. Unfortunately, his performances from those days till 2016/17 or so were full of promise but didn’t really fulfill the expected potential.
In the past couple of years, he has delivered several hits, and in roles that have broken the conventional mold, from Bareilly Ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan to Andhadhun, Bala etc.
A lot of folks were raving about “Gully Boy” too, but I’ve not watched it yet.
An addition to my music playlist
When It’s Time
I’ve been a fan of Warren Mendonsa’s Blackstratblues since 2009, when I heard ‘The New Album‘, and watched him perform live at the NH7 Weekender in Pune from 2010-2012.
This latest album was released on 12-Sep, Warren’s 40th birthday. The album has 8 tracks, and surprise, the first track, “Tiny Bit of Sky” opens with a snippet from his 3 yr old daughter. I’ve enjoyed listening to the album these past few months, and it’s an evolution from his early albums. You can stream it on Apple Music or Spotify.
TV was a mixed bag
Chernobyl
Just 5 episodes, but what an impact “Chernobyl” has had. An incredibly well-made, deeply grim story of the nuclear disaster in 1986. Told with extraordinary precision and attention to detail about the 1980s Soviet era, I remember finishing it and sitting there for a few minutes taking it all in.
Predictably, there were some creative liberties and bloopers. These didn’t go down well with part of the scientific community and the Russians, who dismissed it as propaganda. There was some buzz online at the time about the Chernobyl font too, with multiple discussion threads on Reddit.
And then there was Game of Thrones
I was fully expecting to put this as my top TV show of the year. Then the final season happened.
While there have been several TV shows recently with underwhelming final seasons/episodes, it’s tough to think of a show that created such an enormous aura and involvement, and then managed to make viewers feel betrayed by that rushed conclusion.
Having said that, there are some GoT episodes I consider among the best in TV.
I just wish the ending wasn’t such an anti-climax and so underwhelming.
One small thing that improved my life
Dark mode. Seriously.
Around midway through the year, everyone suddenly started offering dark mode as a choice, and I was only too happy to switch everything I could.
My eyes say “Thank You”!
