Book Review: 'Fragmented Frames - Reflections Of A Critic' 
By Joginder Tuteja, May 9, 2008 - 14:58 IST
First things first. It would be wrong to call 'Fragmented Frames - Reflections Of A Critic' as a 'book' per se. Reason? It is mainly an array of 100 odd essays spanning three pages, each that makes this Bhawana Somayaa's effort a 300-page exercise! The book (let it be referred this way from the review perspective) is pretty much unique to read due to this very reason since it doesn't follow a linear format of storytelling but instead packs different genres as one jumps from one essay/chapter to another.
Let's first talk about what Bhawana is looking at telling here through this book. As a senior journalist who has been associated with the world of Bollywood for close to three decades, she primarily 'reflects' on the years gone by and highlights some of the major issues / happenings / gossips etc. over the period.
However, while doing this, she refrains from following the tried and tested (and most of the times pretty boring) format of going year by year/decade by decade and coming up with tales around 'this is what was special between the two actors' or 'this is how a particular film revolutionized Bollywood cinema'. Instead, her take on decades gone by is exciting since she picks up incidents, rather than timelines, as verticals, and talks about them in isolation.
This works in favor of the reader because:
a) This makes for an unpredictable read, page after page since Bhawana juggles from casting couch to heartbreaks to decline of cinema to celebrity personalities to her own reading of incidents as they have happened over the years.
b) Since none of the essays last more than three pages, a reader can choose to have a quick read at his/her own convenience and opt to resume it later without worrying about loosing out on continuity. In fact for someone like me, it only aided a faster read since the mentality of 'let me quickly finish reading another essay' made me navigate the book with far greater interest.
However, even Bhawana would admit that 'Fragmented Frames - Reflections Of A Critic' isn't really something new that she is offering to her readers. While going through the essays you realize that most of these write-ups must already have been published in the past and have mainly collated now to 'create' a book. Though for an average reader it may not really matter since majority wouldn't have actually read those 100 odd chapters before, a seasoned follower of Bollywood would be instantly able to catch 'this is new' v/s 'this is something I have read/am already aware about' factor!
Picture this: In one of the chapters, Bhawana throws the news around Vijay Raaz being caught with drugs at Abu Dhabi airport (during the shoot of Awara Paagal Deewana). Nothing wrong with the story being highlighted but what disappoints is her further claim around 'he has ruined his career'. Come on, the incident has long been dead and buried and Raaz is pretty much happening. And yes, no one has stopped giving him work since he was 'once' caught with drugs!
Same holds good with a short take on Cheeni Kum which comes towards the book's end. Now one fails to understand how would the review of this Amitabh Bachchan-Tabu movie with it's supposed flaws really interest a reader today even after a year?
However, a few 'reflections' as above only aid in keeping the readers 'indifferent', a 'reflection' around a respected journalist/critic from the past makes for an interesting read. It is amazing to know how a man called Dr. Baburao Patel could make or break careers through his columns and reviews way back in the 60's. Also Bhawana makes a valid point through one of her write ups where she makes a comeback call to Shashi Kapoor! Now if only this happens, it would be great to see veterans like Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan coming together in a film!
The writer also makes a positive statement at more than just one occasion where she hails media for the standing it has gathered over the years and only at a few places does she really insist on it to slow down in it's quest for 'breaking news' or paparazzi! She sounds a little disturbed about how stars have started allowing their personal lives to come out in open but in the process also agrees that media plays an important role in a film reaching out to it's audience.
While standard (and expected) essays on casting couch (Madhur Bhandarkar v/s Preeti Jain), other women in the film world (dozen odd leading ladies falling for the married men) and underworld (Abu Salem and Monica Bedi) do make an appearance. A reader is also taken through an emotional journey of how Karan Johar realized while filming Kal Ho Na Ho that his father Yash Johar was suffering from cancer!
What makes for an amusing read though is Bhawana's observation around Himesh Reshammiya reaching a super stardom status in one of her visits to Kashmir. Moreover, she doesn't mince any words while coming down heavily on the 'regressive' sagas being churned out by Ekta Kapoor at an alarming frequency!
However trivial matters like Gurinder Chadha coming late for the press conference of Bride and Prejudice, something which may have affected Bhawana personally, don't quite deserve the print space! One wonders what purpose it solves if an incident like this gets highlighted in a book. Also, there is an entire chapter devoted around how traditionally Bollywood heroes have been carrying various traits of Lord Krishna over the years! Well, it seems more like - 'I have an idea so let that be milked to the maximum'. Read the essay to believe it, as it seems to be a forced write-up in order to prove a theory right!
And yes, Rajinikanth's fans may be alarmed by a piece of advice coming from Bhawana regarding the superstar. As per her, Sivaji-The Boss has been a case of immense media hype and it is time for Rajini to take up different kind of roles rather than playing a 'hero' all the time, just like Amitabh Bachchan has rebuilt his career ever since getting into a different league since Moahabbatein. Reason being that Rajini was fortunate to have scored with Sivaji - The Boss and there is no guarantee that he would be able to deliver a success every time!
Overall, 'Fragmented Frames - Reflections Of A Critic' is a decent affair, though not very good or excellent that one had expected from this book which aimed at 'reflecting' over the decades gone by from a critic's point of view. As a reading material, it is one of the most comfortable books to lay hands on due to reasons as stated above. However, while the idea behind the book is good, it's the inconsistency around some chapters being engaging while others being plain ordinary that results in this Bhawana Somaaya effort turning out to be a mixed bag.
Rating: ***
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