Book Review: Murder at Mushaira by Raza Mir

Namrata reviews Raza Mir’s Murder at Mushaira (Aleph Book Company, 2021) and calls it a thrilling murder mystery with the charm of the bygone era woven intricately in it.

Murder at Mushaira as the name suggests is a historical thriller, where the legendary poet Ghalib turns into a sleuth and solves this murder mystery. Set in 1857, when Bahadur Shah Zafar ruled on Delhi, this book is infused with drama, mystery, history, poetry (sher-o-shayari) and humour.

Author Raza Mir has brought together his love and passion for history and Urdu poetry in this book. As is evident from his previous works, Ghalib: A Thousand Desires, The Taste of Words: An Introduction to Urdu Poetry, and the co-author of Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry, Mir is a perfect aficionado on this subject to weave a tale around it.

Read the full review on Kitaab.

Books on Cinema

For a long time, cinema was a world I wasn’t allowed to enter. I grew up in a home where movies were banned. No television, no glimpses of silver screens, and no songs echoing from old classics. For nearly a decade, cinema was a forbidden word like a secret behind a closed door. And yet, like all things that carry truth and longing, it found its way to me. Stories have a way of finding you, slipping through cracks, whispered between pages, caught in melodies. Sometimes through the corners of borrowed books, sometimes through whispered summaries from classmates, sometimes just through the magnetic pull of posters and songs I wasn’t supposed to hear.

Movie Review: If by Tathagata Ghosh – A Tender Portrait of Love, Loss, and Possibility

If , a 26-minute short film by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh, is a sensitive, evocative piece of storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll. Set against the everyday rhythm of life in Kolkata, the film delicately unpacks the story of a lesbian couple torn apart by the weight of societal expectations and dares to imagine a different future, one where a mother's love might just change everything. What struck me first was the film’s raw, grounded realism. The characters feel like people we know, middle-class families navigating a complex world with quiet resilience. The world of If is filled with silences, glances, and stills, rather than heavy dialogue. Ghosh masterfully uses these moments to speak volumes, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort, interpret the unspoken, and feel deeply.

Book Review: The Story of Eve: Selected Poems by Zehra Nigah

Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.

Reviews & Musings

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