Deep Impact

Many of us, including me, fantasize visiting the ‘Big Apple’ or New York City once in our lifetime. Well, I have not got a chance to actually go there till now. But voila! Carrie Bradshaw and her girl pals introduced me to New York City with the show Sex and the City. I was immediately taken in by the basic premise and charm of the portrayal of the journey of these 4 girls. I adored all the quintessentially girly stuff in the show. (It is another story if I myself would ever be able to carry those Blahniks and D&C’s with such elan). The character I can most relate to and love is Carrie’s (apart from the host of relationships she has had). She is a columnist and is not afraid to speak her mind. Whatever happens in her life, she has her girl friends whom she can bank upon for support. Although she loves all the other 3 – Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda, I think, Miranda is the first one she calls or goes to in troubled times. Yes, be it New York or Paris or London, you need one

It had been a while since I loved a film with all my heart. That’s the 2015 film, ‘Woman in Gold’. Based on true story, this film tackles the complicated issue of art restitution. In simple terms, it refers to restoration of something to its rightful owner. This is mostly in context of art looted during World War II. So here, Maria Altman (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish refugee living in Los Angeles, discovers letters in her sister's possession dating to the late 1940s, after her sister’s death. To her surprise and dismay, the letters reveal an attempt to recover the artwork owned by the Bloch-Bauer family, left behind when they had to leave the country for their life and freedom. The artwork is subsequently stolen by the Nazis. Of particular significance is a portrait of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, made by one of Gustav Klimt, one of the most renowned painters of his time. The portrait later came to be known in Austria as the "Woman in Gold". From h