BOOK REVIEW- STAR CROSSED

KARIANDA  NAZHALGAL  - a novel written by Ashokamitran is the original title for its remarkable English translation  STAR CROSSED  by V Ramanarayan

Fiction, drama,a story- sometimes almost unrealistic and unbelievable tightens the grip over readers but STAR CROSSED uses a whole another aspect . The beauty of the novel lies in conveying message by bringing out its characters meticulously .Elaborate and gripping description of people and places bears resemblance vivid scenes of a movie.

This novel concerns Kollywood-the Tamil cinema.  But turns the focus of readers from the limelight and glamour to the lives of providers of mass entertainment, remaining behind the silver screen and contributing significantly in their own way.

Ashokamitran has used his characters to bring out the reality of the daily lives of not so familiar cinema people. Its description contradicts our prevailing notions of glamour and comfort towards such characters. Behind the scene manager, cameraman, technicians, errand boys not only are devoid of glamour but also not being able to make their ends meet during the off seasons .Their pitiful condition is heartfelt by the true detailing of their lives. The novel also suggest that movies is a risky business. Reddiar producing a movie goes bankrupt the next day. To some monetary crisis is a threat to their survival and to some personal relations is on stake. Even the smallest to biggest have their fortunes knitted to movies; rising and falling with it.

There is a tiny bit of sarcasm casted on film folks, when the film chamber chief refers to Indo-Czech relations to be ancient completely unaware of the fact that Czech was a country of recent origin.

The translation seems to pretty amazing, captivating our imaginations. Ramanarayan has left few of the native words untouched, rest have been translated for reading ease quite wonderfully. The author has used third person narration in the whole novel except in the last chapter where he himself narrated the novel to completion. The language is simple and does not bear sentiments in particular to someone; still is profoundly moving.

On the whole, I liked the way characters speak for themselves and the essence developed by minute details overshadow the lack of story.

By  SHIVAM SHAH

2011ce10401