Most pan-Indian mega-hits from the south have something in common—a super-human alpha male who has conquered every weakness. Be it the ex-cop who can decapitate people with a single swing of the machete (Jailer), or the gangster who goes on a rampage inside the Parliament to avenge his dead wife (KGF 2), or the prince who breaches the heavily-guarded fort of an evil king by single-handedly catapulting palm trees at it (Baahubali 2). The protagonist is too macho for cheap sentimentality, and any tear he sheds is amply compensated by the blood of the enemy.
Enter Najeeb Muhammed, the hero of writer Benyamin's 2008 book Goat Days (Aadujeevitham in Malayalam). He is an ordinary man who lands in Saudi Arabia with the hope of a better life for his family. In the dunes of 'the Gulf', he is subjected to unimaginable misery when he is forced into slavery as a goatherd by a cruel master, with little chance of ever meeting his family again. The novel, based on real-life events, is one of the top sellers in Malayalam. Penguin described it as “a universal tale of loneliness and alienation”. It is just this universality that will underpin the success of The Goat Life, the book's pan-Indian, multi-language film adaptation, feels Benyamin.
“Because suffering is the same everywhere,” he says.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 28, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 28, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI