July rains bring unlikely heroes and, despite social distancing, romance

The world is in such a scary place that I’m wishing that The Old Guard were real, battling our common enemies. I cringe when I see female superheroes reduced to Lara Croft or Catwoman style body icons.

A request from a producer of shows on social media about a billboard on Sunset Boulevard made me click on the show Warrior Nun. I grew up watching Shaolin heroes, now what on earth is Warrior Nun?

Takes a while to like the unlikely hero in the series, but it keeps you going. Who doesn’t like the battle between good and evil? Especially if the evil is wearing the garb of holy men? It also makes me want to visit Spain - Marbella, Cordoba when everything becomes better… If you are a Game Of Thrones fan you would have noticed it’s Tyrell’s home Highgarden from season 7 (the ancient Almodovar del Rio Castle).

I fell in love with the very pretty town of Antequera (again, Spain) where the young heroine and Shotgun Mary (the name makes you want to watch the show, eh?) find refuge and the young girl learns to fight wraith devils. Even though the action and the main story are rather intriguing, you question how they end up with unanswered plot points about a nun who could be evil but… And why the scientist… Watch and perhaps the second season will shed light on the unexplained.

I quote Austen: I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.

And it takes the French to make us like the disagreeable. I loved watching Lady J on Netflix, simply because it is a great story of revenge wrapped in lace and tulle. A wonderful peek into the minds of women (and men). A tale of how far you will bend to love.

‘I just want to be loved’, is many a heroine’s wish, but what happens when the State incarcerates you and deems you a non-citizen? It’s a wildly different show from down under. But Stateless is a fascinating watch, especially now that we are all struggling to understand how the pandemic does not adhere to borders. As we are all confined to our homes, we begin to yearn for freedom.

Stateless is a harrowing but a worthwhile watch, As Austen said: Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken.

Austen has created legions of fans who understand the preoccupation of mother with daughters and their need to find ‘A Suitable Boy’ and the trailer that says the Netflix/BBC version of Vikram Seth’s novel will be released on July 26 made me cringe. Do we really speak English like this? How many people do you know who nod their heads the way Indians tropes are supposed to? Is the novel terribly dated now? I’d rather watch Mira nair’s Vanity Fair again. It’s on Netflix and you will love the sharp wit and the love of detail as Reese Witherspoon finds her place in society and a suitable lad for herself, breaking all conventions.

Netflix has announced the show Cursed with a woman warrior with a legendary sword… Did she say Arthur? And Merlin? I am curious to find out more, but cannot resist another quote by Austen, ‘There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.’

If the rains distract you from this saving lives with magical swords business, then switch over to Amazon Prime and help Lalita Pawar find a suitable boy like Guru Dutt in Mr. And Mrs 55… Sing along with OP Nayyar’s ridiculously delicious music for the Jane Austen weather we are having,‘Thandi hawa kaali ghata’...Or if you’ve lost your heart, sing like Johnny Walker, ‘Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji…’

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication.