Preview: Our Top New Releases from July

The Far Field
by Madhuri Vijay

In the wake of her mother’s death, Shalini, a privileged, naive and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote village in Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to track him down. But as soon as Shalini arrives, she is confronted with the region’s politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. As life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could have dangerous repercussions for the people she has come to love.
With rare acumen and evocative prose, in The Far Field Madhuri Vijay gives a potent critique of Indian politics and class prejudice through the lens of a guileless outsider, while also offering up a profound meditation on grief, guilt and the limits of compassion.

Those Days in Delhi
by Yashodhara Lal

Delhi in t he 1990s. A nd this time, it’s going to be Gudia’s summer. So what if she’s the quintessential awkward middle child? So what if it seems like everything – from the hair sprouting on her legs to teachers making her life miserable – is conspiring against her?
She’s taking matters into her own hands, and there’s no way that she’s going to fail. After all, there are three things Gudia is obsessed with–basketball, the boy with the American accent … and winning.
But in her desire to win this campaign of middle-school one-upmanship and conceal her plummeting grades, Gudia might just lose all that’s important to her – including herself.
Best-selling author Yashodhara Lal is back with this funny, bittersweet and entirely relatable story
about growing up; of that summer of innocence, when the world was simpler and even our problems
seemed sweeter.

The Shape of Things to Come: An Impassioned View
by Markandey Katju

India is in the throes of transition – from a primarily feudal agrarian society to a modern, industrial one. For the transition to be successful, however, Markandey Katju says that the country needs to rid itself of the ills of the feudal days. But perturbed by the growing incidents of communalism, racial and lingual strife, corruption and persisting issues of poverty, casteism and unemployment, he is sceptical of the change arriving anytime soon. He argues that this turbulent transition might last for another twenty-odd years.
In this timely collection of his views, Katju suggests that influential politicians and their governance are not enough, but a scientific mission for national reconstruction is the need of the hour to bring India into its own as a developed and egalitarian society. In his trademark no-holds-barred approach, the author holds up a mirror to the citizens of India and where they could be headed – so that from the dark times emerges a shining vision of the nation its people deserve. His forthright and unreserved views in The Shape of Things to Come give an important perspective to judge India’s future.

Distortion
by Gautam Malkani

Meet Dillon, a high-functioning mess with a rather inconvenient foot fetish, who has been keeping some very big secrets from his girlfriend Ramona.
Also, meet Dhilan, a young carer caught in an endless loop of pre-bereavement bereavement for his dying mother.
And then there is Dylan. The less said about him the better.
These three very separate identities for the same young man have been growing dangerously hardwired thanks to the self-reinforcing effects of social media and search engines, and the uncanny predictive capabilities of his smartphones.
When two men threaten to expose Dillon/Dhilan/Dylan, he is forced to unravel a gut-wrenching mystery that he would rather leave well alone.

F-Rated: Being a Woman Filmmaker in India
Nandita Dutta

What does it mean to be a woman filmmaker in India?
One famous director suffered from depression, unable to take on film projects because of her young child. Another was asked in an interview if she drinks and smokes to deal with the stress of filmmaking like men do. Some faced cinematographers who refused to listen to them. Almost all of them struggle to raise money for films with female protagonists. But they are also cool and sassy. One attended film-school with her two-week-old baby. Another stormed the once all-male bastion of the 200-crore club. They can make a hit film about a middle-aged housewife, as much as a bisexual teenager with a disability.
F-Rated brings together diverse stories of eleven women filmmakers in India: Aparna Sen, Mira Nair, Farah Khan, Meghna Gulzar, Nandita Das, Shonali Bose, Tanuja Chandra, Anjali Menon, Reema Kagti, Kiran Rao and Alankrita Srivastava. A celebration of their womanhood as much as their work – this is a must-read.