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Showing posts from July, 2025

The Rise of the Hitman

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  Name : The Rise of the Hitman Author : R.Kaushik     Year of Publication : 2025     Genre : Non - Fiction, Cricket, Biography     Rating : **  ( Two stars out of 5) R.Kaushik is a competent writer who has previously co-written memoirs of V.V.S.Laxman and Gundappa Viswanath.  Rohit Sharma's successes are covered well but the more important bits of how he coped with failure and depression when he was dropped from the 2011 World Cup squad are not given adequate printspace. The book would have been better had it been a contemporary history of Indian cricket post-Dhoni giving equal space to Kohli, Sharma and others. Rohit's successes alone  do not have enough variety to warrant a longform biography.

Captain Vijayakanth

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Name : Captain Vijayakanth Author : Pa.Dheenadayalan     Year of Publication : 2024     Genre : Non - Fiction, Cinema, Biography     Rating : ** 1/2 ( Two and a half stars out of 5) The author's deep knowlege about Kollywood shines through in this dramatised biography of Vijayakanth. The author's USP is that he is a storehouse of random trivia which will enthrall the diehard cinema buff. Vijayakanth's life is a curious mix of touching philanthropy, boxoffice success and political failure. The book captures all these phases in a balanced and readable manner.