Karthik Calling Karthik
-Vasudha Nagraj
The film has three characters: Karthik played by Farhaan Akhtar, Shonali by Deepika Padukone and a Kyuming brand telephone. For those who have not seen the film, here is the story. Karthik is a low profile but competent accountant, whose labour is unrecognized by his boss and colleagues. He lives alone, has no friends or family, suffers nightmares about his childhood for which he meets his psychiatrist, and secretly desires his colleague Shonali. Traumatised by a showdown in his office, he becomes dejected, shuts himself up in his room and contemplates suicide. Just as he is about to end his life, the phone rings and he discovers the caller to be a man called Karthik who knows every intimate detail about his life. Initially nonplussed by these calls, Karthik gradually begins to trust the caller, who counsels him, and through several conversations restores in him the ability to negotiate with the world. Following these conversations Karthik demands his due from his landlord and boss, overcomes his nightmares, becomes stylish and successful, and succeeds in winning over Shonali too. The phone conversations now become a part of his everyday life.
However, Karthik’s dream run ends quite abruptly when he confides in Shonali about his chats. Shonali is very disturbed by this information, calls him mad and advises him to seek medical help She threatens to walk out of the relationship if he continues with his chats. Karthik tries to reason with Shonali that he is not disturbed by this mystery caller and looks forward to these chats. He tells her that it is these phone calls which made him cool, smart and confident. He pleads with her to allow him to continue these chats. Shonali, however, is unrelenting. To please her he again returns to his psychiatrist who tells him authoritatively that he is imagining these phone calls, suffering a mental disorder called schizophrenia and that he should consider medication. Karthik is torn between Shonali and the caller. At this juncture when Karthik is wavering in his loyalties, the caller turns negative and declares his intention to destroy him. The phone stops ringing and within no time Karthik loses his confidence, job, girl friend and all his savings. In utter sadness Karthik realises that the caller has complete control over his life. He runs away to an obscure town in Kerala and again assumes a low profile life, and more importantly informs his new boss that he will not keep a phone. But, after about five months, due to a chain of events, he is forced to install a telephone in his house. The first day, he waits in anxiety to see if the phone calls return. When the phone is silent the first night, he feels thrilled and mails to Shonali that the phone calls have stopped. But the phone rings the second day and the chats begin. Karthik realises that he cannot ever reconcile in his life his loyalty to the other Karthik and Shonali, and decides to commit suicide. This time round, Shonali (with the help of the psychiatrist), who is regretting her hasty decision, tracks him down and rescues him.
In the last scenes, it is revealed that Karthik suffers schizophrenia and that he actually recorded messages in the phone and timed the phone to ring at a given point. Even as the film is packaged as a thriller with comedy and sensuality, it is imperceptibly, an account of a man who is hearing voices since his childhood and his efforts to cope with it. The first time when he tries to commit suicide, he sets up the phone calls, albeit unconsciously, to talk himself out of the idea. But he painfully realises that this practice cannot coexist with the other world that he shares with Shonali. Farhaan Akhtar enacts well the pain and vulnerability of a person who tries to inhabit the different worlds of voices. The film foregrounds the shrillness with which Shonali pounces on Karthik to take medication despite his insistence that the voices helped him better than the counsel of his psychiatrist. Neither the psychiatrist nor Shonali believe that the voices were healing him, that they were his ways of coping with the stresses of his nightmares, his workspace and love life. In the last scene which is shot in a bright drawing room filled with love and hope, one cannot miss two things: the trace of power with which Shonali the carer advises him to speak to the psychiatrist, and the shadow of reluctance in Karthik.
The film does not publicize itself as a film on mental illness, sparingly uses the didactic mode, and steps aside from a heroic resolution. For commercial reasons, I suppose, the promos of the film emphasise merely the new hair style of Deepika Padukone and the chemistry between the lead pair. The chemistry on the other hand seems to be more substantial between the two Karthiks than the lead pair. Similarly, many of the reviews of the film have noted with displeasure the slowness of the script and the anti-climactic ending. However, it is the latter wherein the success of the film lies. The viewer leaves the cinema hall with a troubling thought: if Karthik was better off hearing voices, why doesn’t the world let him be?
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New arrivals in English under different subject heading
Law
Strengthening governance through access to justice/ edited by Amita Singh.- New Delhi: PHI Learning, 2009.
Agriculture- India- History
A history of agriculture in India: beginning to 12th century: Volume-I/ by M.S.Randhawa.- New Delhi: Indian council of agriculture reseach, 1980.
A history of agriculture in India: beginning to 12th century: Volume-II/by M.S.Randhawa.- New Delhi: Indian council of agriculture reseach, 1980.
A history of agriculture in India: beginning to 12th century: Volume-III(1757-1947)/ by M.S.Randhawa.- New Delhi: Indian council of agriculture reseach, 1980.
A history of agriculture in India: beginning to 12th century: Volume-IV(1947-1981)/ by M.S.Randhawa.- New Delhi: Indian council of agriculture reseach, 1980.
Biography
A forgotten Liberator: the life and struggle of Savitribai Phule/ edited by Braj Ranjan Mani.- New Delhi: Mountain Peak, 2008.
Fiction
Landscape for a good Women: a story of two lives/ Carolyn Kay Steedman.- New Jersey: Rutger University Press,1986.
Feminism
Feminism and Nationalism in the third world in the 19th and early 20th centuries/ Kumari Jayawardena.- The Hague: Institute of Social Studies, 1982.
Political Theory
Political and History/ by Louis Althusser/ translated by Ben Brewster.- New York: VERSO Redical Thinkers, 2007.
Philosophy
Emancipation(s)/ by Ernesto Laclau.- New York: VERSO Radical Thinkers, 1995.
A Study on authority/ by Herbert Marcuse/ translated by Joris De Bres.- VERSO Radical Thinkers,1972.
New arrivals in Reports
Hivos! 1968-2008 history in the making: from aid to alter-globalism/ by Frans Bieckmann and Ellen Lammers.- Amsterdam: Mets & Schilt, 2009.
Knowledge Programme: Knowledge integration, learing and capacity building for development/ by Hivos.
Gender reseach in Sweden 2009: Gender Reseach in Sweden, A Journal from the Swedish secretariat for Gender Reseach/edited by Inga- Bodil Hermansson Hassler & Siri Reuterstrand.- Sweden: Kerstin Alnebratt, Head of the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Reseach, 2009.
Foundation for Ecological Security/ by Amrita Patel.- Madanapalle: Foundation for Ecological Security,2008/2009.
State Services for Women in Crisis in Karnataka: A Study/ by Indhu Subramaniam and Usha B N.- Bangalore: Hengasara Hakkina Sangha, 2010.
New arrivals in Telugu
Charithra
1969 Udyamam- chaarithraka pathraalu/ Vivek Thadakamalla [et.al]
Dalitha mahilalu- Bharatha desam
Bhaaratha desamlo dalitha mahilalapai himsa vaari manobhaavaalu/ by S.J.Aloysius, Jayasree P.Mangu bai & Joyal, G.Lee / tr.by Sumathi, G.V.Rathnakar & M.Sanjeeva reddy
Aaathma katha
24 gantalu: K.G.Kannabiran aathma kathaathmaka saamaajika chithram/ N.Venugopal .- Hyderabad: Devulapalli publications, 2010.
Vyaasaalu- Saahithaym
Saahithyamante emiti/ Vadrevu China veerabhadrudu.- Hyderabad: Sree prachurana
Kavithvam
1969- 1973 Telangana Udyama kavithvam/ ed.by Sangisetti Srinivas & Sunkireddy Narayana reddy.- Hyderabad: Singidi, 2009.
Kaarimikulu- Udyamaalu
Boggu porallo aggi baavutaa: Telangana vanarula dopidi: Singareni kaarmikodyamam/ Ghanta Chakrapani.- Hyderabad: Umesh paper box,2009.
Saahithyam
Mungili: Telangana praacheena saahithyam/ Sunkireddy Narayana reddy.- Hyderabad: Telangana prachuranalu, 2009.
Vignaanam
Maanava parinaamam/ Kodavatiganti Rohini Prasad.- Hyderabad: Swecchaasahithi, 2009.
Telangana
Oosaravelli: Telangana patla raajakeeya party la oosaravelli pravarthana pai nisitha vyaakhyaanam/ Uppala Narasimham.-Hyderabad: Gnanam publications, 2010.
Andhra Pradesh erpaatu vidroha charithra/ Thadakamalla Vivek [et.al].- Hyderabad: Telangana History Society, 2008.
Telangana chooputho Chattisghad scooter yaathra/ Lokeswar.-Hyderabad: Gandhi prachuranalu,2009.
Communist Udyamam- Naxalism
Klesavudu/ Uppala Narasimham.- Hyderabad: Gnanam publications, 2009.
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Contents of Journals
Communalism Combat:
Editorial
Man of the moment
Cover Story
Kashi ka Kabir
Special Report
Return of hope
Gender
From Shah Bano to Shabana
Observatory
Banning minarets in Switzerland
Alpine bigotry
Ethos
My cousin, the suicide bomber
Focus
A man who knew the future
Breaking Barriers
The pulpits of our mosques have begun
To booby- trap the public
Pushing back against the extremists
Conquering hearts
Obituary
A Gandhian with a difference
Voices
Poem- My Sister
Asian Journal of Women’s Studies
Volume 15, Number 4 2009
Carol BACCHI
Challenging the Displacement of Affirmative Action by Gender
Mainstreaming
Saskia E. WIERINGA
Women Resisting Creeping Islamic Fundamentalism in Indonesia
Sheela SARAVANAN, Helen JOHNSON, Gavin TURRELL&Jennifer FRASER
Social Roles and Birthing Practices of Traditional Birth
Attendants in India with Reference to other Developing Countries
Sook- Yeon WON
Does Gender combination Matter? Differentiated Perceptions
Towards Managerial Effectiveness of Women
BOOK REVIEW
Taeyun JUNG
Accounting for Rape: Psychology, Feminism and Discourse Analysis in the
Study of sexual Violence,
Irina Anderson and Karthy Doherty, New York: Routledge, 2008.
Joel DAVID
Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and temporal Critique,
Bliss Cua Lim, Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
SEMINAR 607
THE PROBLEM
Posed by Aditya Nigam, Fellow, Centre for the study of
Developing Societies, Delhi.
SPRING THUNDER ANEW
Bernard D’mello, Deputy Editor, ‘Economic and political
Weekly’, Mumbai.
ANARCHISM OR REVOLUTIONARY MARXISM?
Arindam Sen, Polibureau Member, CP (ML) Liberation,
Delhi.
IN THE WAKE OF LALGERH
Sujato Bhadra, human rights activist, Kolkata
INTERIEW
With Santosh Rana, PCC CPI(ML) by Biswajit Roy,
Freelance journalist, Kolkata
WAR AND PEACE
Shashank kela, writer, worked as a social activist, Nagpur
PLEADING FOR JUSTICE
Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi school of Economics
THE CURSE OF PAIKDEV: A LAMENT FOR WATER
Hartman de Souza, independent scholar and activist, Goa
MAOISM: THE NEPAL SCENE
Prashant Jha, journalist, Kathmandu
RESPONDING TO THE MAOIST CHALLENGE
Mahendra Kumawat, IPS (retd.); former Special Secretary,
Internal Security, GOI, Delhi.
THE DREAMSCAPE OF ‘SOLUTIONS’
Ajai Sahni, Executive Director, Institute for Conflict
Management, Delhi
SCATTERED TRUTHS, BITTER SEEDS
Vasanth Kannabiran, feminist writer, Hyderabad.
WHATS POETRY GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Prathama Benerjee, historian, Centre for the study of
Developing Societies, Delhi.
VIOLENCE AND REVOLUTION
A Poorvanand, Department of Hindi, University of Delhi.
THE RUMOUR OF MAOISM
Aditya Nigam, Fellow, CSDS, Delhi.
PERMANENT SPRING
Dilip Simeon, independent scholar; former Fellow,
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi.
COMMENT
The IPCC Debate: of Science and Politics
Peter Ronald desouza, Director, IIAS, Shimla
THE BOOK REVIEW
Volume XXXIV No: 2 February 2010
L.C. Jain Voices from the past: Asian relations conference 1947;
Indians first foray in Foreign Affairs.
Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed Pakistan A Modern History by Ian Talbot; The Partition of
Indian by Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh; The Great
Divide; Indian and Pakistan edited by Ira Pande.
Meher Hatima Hussain Muhajirs and the Nation; Bihar in the 1940s by Papiya Ghosh
Gurharpal Singh Punjab Politics; 1 June 1947- 14 August 1947—Tragedy;
Governors’ Fortnightly reports and other key Documents
Compiled and edited by Lionel Carter.
Kalim Bahadur Pakistani Diasporas; Culture, Conflict and Change edited by Virinder
S.Kalra; The Mind of Pkistan by Kishori Lal.
Rekha Chakravarthi Speaking Like a state; Language and Nationalism in Pakistan by
Alyssa Ayres
Shanthie Mariet D’Souze Back to the Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baloch
Nationalism 1915- 1955 by Martin Axmann
Sabyasachi Dasgupta Islam and the Army in Colonial India: Sepoy Religion in the Service of
Empire by Nile Green.
Adnan Farooqui Globalsalafism: Islam’s New Religious Movement edited by Roel Meijer;
iMuslims; Rewiring the House of Islam by Gary R. Bunt; The Borders of
Islam: Exploring Samual Huntington’s Faultlines, from Al- Andalus to the
Virtual Ummah edited by Stig Jarle Hansen, Tuncay Kardas and Atle Mesoy
Arshad Alam My friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist by Sadanand Dhume
Amiya P. Sen The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger.
Stephen P. Cohen Indo- US Nuclear Deal: Seeking Synergy in Bilateralism edited by P.R.
Chari.
P.R. Chari The Genesis of South Asian Nuclear Deterrence: Pakistan’s Perspective by
Naeem Salik; Nuclear Strategy: Indian’s March towards Credible Deterrence
By Manpreet Sethi.
Rear Admiral Raja Menon Proliferation and Emerging Nuclear Order in the twenty-first century
edited by N.S.Sisodia, V.Krishnappa and Priyanka Singh.
I.P. Khosla Seeds of Terror: the Taliban, the ISI and the new Opium Wars by
Gretchen Peters.
K.P.Fabian Saving Afghanistan edited by V.Krishna, Shanthie Mariet D’Souza and
Priyanka Singh.
Ali Ahmed Combating Terrorism: Saudi Arabia’s Role in the War on Terror by Ali S.
Awadh Asseri.
P.Stobdan Journeys to Empire; Enlightenment, Imperialism and the British Encounter
With Tibet, 1774-1904 by Gordon T. Stewart.
Rukmani Gupta Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule by Tubten Khetsun.
Swaran Singh Economic Reforms in India and China; Emerging Issues and Challenges edited
By B.Sudhakara Reddy; Indian and Chinese Enterprises: Global Trade,
Technology and Investment Regimes edited by N.S.Siddharthan and
K.Narayanan.
Srikanth Kondapally Managed Chaos: the Fragility of the Chinese Miracle by PremShankar Jha.
K.V.Rajan Unleashing Nepal; Past, Present and future of the Economy by Sujeev Shankar.
Deb Mukharji Caretaking Democracy: Political Process in Bangladesh, 2006-2008 by
Sreeradha Datta.
Romila Thapar Editorial Choices: Reading 2009.
Mandira Sen Publisherspeak: Independent Publishing and Survival: The Importance of
Bookfairs.
Urvasi Butalia Publisherspeak: Publishing in India: New Horizons
Radhika Menon Publisherspeak: Multilingual Publishing No Short Cuts.
Indira Menon Alice’s Adventures in Glassland
Teesta Setalvad The No Nonsense Guide to Minority Rights in South Asia by Rita Manchanda.
Indra Nath Mukhaerji Accelerating Growth and job Creation in South Asia edited by Ejaz Ghani and
Sadiq Ahmaed.
Mohan Rao Indian Health Landscapes Under Globalization edited by Alain Vaguet
Brinda Viswanathan Gender and Discrimination: Health, Nutritional status and role of Women in
India edited by Manoranjan Premananda Bholanath Ghosh and T.S.Vasulu.
Devyani Srivastava States of Trauma: Gender and Violence in South Asia by Piya Chhatterjee, Mnali
Desai and Parama Roy
Ramaswamy R.Iyer Taming the Anarchy: Groundwater Governance in South Asia by Tushaar Shah
Radhika Krishnan Legal Grounds: Natural Resources, Identity and the Law in Jharkhand edited
Nandini Sundar
Meena Bhargava Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor by Fergus Nicoll
Manisha Sobhrajani Territory of Desire: Representing the Valley of Kashmir by Ananya Jahanara
Kabir; Kashmiriyat: The Pluralist Sufi-Bhakti- Rishi Culture narrated by
Madaeet Singh
Girish Karnad Theatre in Colonial India: Play-House of Power edited by Lata Singh
Joya John Modern Indian Drama: Issues and Interventions edited by Lakshmi
Subramanyam
Kusum Haidar Our Stage: Pleasures and Perils of Theatre Practice in India edited by Sudhanva
Deshpande, Akshara K.V. and Sameera Iyengar
Mushirul Hasan Bitter Fruit: The Very Best of Saadat Hasan Manto edited and translated by
Khalid Hasan; Saadat Hasan Manto, Naked Vioce; Stories and Sketches
translated from the Urdu by Rakhshanda Jalil
Rakhshanda Jalil Urdu: Short Stories selected and translated by Amina Zafar
G.J.V. Prasad Sam’s Story by Elmo Jayawardena; Do You Suppose It’s the East
Wind; stories from Pakistan edited and translatedfrom the Urdu by
Muhammad Umar Memon.
Shobhana Bhattacharji The Lazy Conman and other stories(Folktales from Nepal) by Ajit Baral.
Illustrations by Durga Baral; A Boy frpm Siklis: The Life and Times of Chandra
Gurung by Manjushree Thapa; Bindu and the Great Wall by Su Tong.
Translated from the Chinese by Howard Blatt.
Nishat Zaidi Tilism-e- Hoshruba: The Enchantment of the Senses abridged and translated by
Shahnaz Aijazuddin
Nivedita Sen The New Anthem: The Subcontinenet in its own Words edited by Ahmede
Hussain.
EASTERN CRESCENT
Volume No: 3, March 2010
QUR’ANIC WISDOM
Islam Encourages The Golden Mean
MIRROR
France’s Obsession with Muslim Dress
BETWEEN THE LINES
What Made Amitabh Opt For Gujarat Campaign?
SPECIAL REPORT
Deoband Pitched In Grief At The Death Of
Maulana Naseer Ahmad Khan(ra)
IN FOCUS
Swiss Antagonist of Minarets Embraces Islam
NEWS SNIPPET
Machine Washes Muslims, Recites Qur’an
SPOTLIGHT
Shahid Azmi, a Career Produced And Consumed
By Judicial System
OUR NATION
Dialogue between Islam and Indian religions
No Persian Expert To Decipher
Mughal Documents?
MIDDLE EAST
Sawlatiya Madrasah To Move Out From Haram
After 140 Years
DIALOGUE
A Case Against Interest
COVER STORY
Poor Management Worsens water crisis in Mumbai
NGO ACTIVITY
Muslim NGOs Meet To Solve Problems
FEATURE
Compulsory Voting And Democracy
SOCIETY
Life Is Precious
Then Why Do You Commit Suicide?
WOMEN’S ISSUES
Women and Exclusion
HEALTH
Rising Drug Prices Hurt the Poor
STAIRWAYS
Some Hope For Start- ups Through Micro- credit
STUDENT’S DESK
Ideal Students Win Qur’an Competition
HISTORY IN TRANSLATION
The Period of Umar Farooque’s Caliphate
RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE
Question & Answer
On day-to-day Masail of Muslims
READER’S FORUM
Letters To The Editor
EDITORIAL
Gimmick For Minority Reservation
HIMAL South Asian
Volume No: 2 February 2010
Commentary
The new Rajapaksean regime
NSA Menon
Delits at Diggi
‘Who sacrifices unto fire’
Southasian briefs
VIOCES
Analysis
A yet-darkened horizon
Larry Jagan
Letter to the Whole- timer
Kanak Mani Dixit
‘The Ideal Sinhalese’
Liyanage Amarakeerthi
Report
Towards a Rajapakse future
Tisaranee Gunasekara
A new era
Mahtab Haider
Drone dependency
Iqbal Khattak
Curry bashing?
Bina D’Costa
Sighting
Forgotten men of Kashmir
Rakesh Ankit
Reflections
Jung’s field of vision
Richard Boyle
Photo feature
Restored temples, drying hitis
Scott Faiia
Fiction
Elastic
Sumana Roy
Southasiasphere: C K Lal
The yesterday of our tomorrow
Mediafile
Review
Bookshelf
A rocky road
Robert Crusz
Pathways of marginalia
Sivamohan Sumathy
The wayward empire
Rakesh Shukla
When a great tradition Hinduises
Vijay Prashad
On the way up
Unmoved, unmoving camera
HIMAL South Asian
Volume No: 3 February 2010
Commentary
Piety and Poverty
Dancing by the Cliff
Aman and asha at home
‘Resonance’
Southasian briefs
VIOCES
Analysis
1982 all over again
Rohini Hensman
Writer’s block
Bipin Adhikari
Report
Tattered parachute
Aunohita Mojumdar
Battlefield city
Shamim-ur-Rahman
View from the cantonment
Kiyoko Ogura
Essay
The vamshavali from Chamba
Romila Thapar
Beyond Indology
Ted Riccardi
Sighting
In light of Nalanda
Namit Arora
In defence of symbolism
Laxmi Murthy
Time and place
In remembrance of water
Hartman de Souza
Profile
Arul Aunty
Niyanthini Kadirgamar &
Ahilan Kadirgamar
Reflections
Dagger-clawed little people
Richard Boyle
Photo feature
Mother-cow, Mother India
Patricia Uberoi
Southasiasphere: C K Lal
Early afternoon sun
Mediafile
Review
Bookshelf
His name is Khani
S Bhaskar
Aside the chariot
Diwas Kc
Thousand faces
Sumana Roy
Seeking seekers
Rukmini Krishnan
Strip off my words
Rabindra K Swain
On the way up
Visiting the Mahatma
Published articles of Anveshi members:
The good that Madrasas do goes unnoticed/ Kaneez Fathima, The Milli Gazette , Feb 2010.
Paatha Basthi Phule Asif Alisab/Kaneez Fathima,Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.
Raajyam- Market- Vidhya/ A.Srinivas, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika), Feb 2010.
English Valasa Bhashagaa Vachi Adhipathya Bhashagaa Maarindhi/ Rama Melkote, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.
Acid Daadulu Pourasamajam moodu konee prasnalu/ M. Mandakini, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar vidyaa Udhyamam/ Doomala Mallesh Madiga, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.
Ragilina Telagana Athma Gouvaram/ Gogu Shyamala, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.
Vidhyardula Nayakthvani Prajalu Korukuntunaru: Osmania University JAC Nayakudu Pidamardhi Ravithoo Mukaamukee/Gogu Shyamala, Andarikee Vidya (Saamajika, Ardhika, Vishleshana Thraimaasika Pathrika) Feb 2010.