Concepts and Characters I like From Books

 I like the idea of literally rolling in wealth, like Richie Rich did.. he had a room full of dollars. Also, having a butler- his was called Cadbury.

The concept of a magic potion used by Asterix, brewed by Druid Getafix- that's s great idea.

A mouse like Mickey, and a talking duck like Donald.. great imagination, Walt Disney!

Nero Wolfe, a gourmet AND a detective.

Hercule Poirot with his egg-shaped head, and little grey cells. Mon ami, Mon cher, whatever, ..pardon my French.. Oo la la!

Phantom's skull cave, with a waterfall covering its entrance, is a masterstroke, according to me. Mandrake's hypnotism too.

James Bond- I never read the books, but he rose from the books to become the colourful character everyone wanted to Bond with...

Of course, Sherlock Holmes, with his deductions based on observation. Market researchers could learn a few things from him.

All the Enid Blyton characters who were as different as chalk and cheese. Fatty, in particular. And Goon.

Thomson and Thompson.. and Captain Haddock..

Youtube and TV 5 Monde

 I have found something I can watch finally, both on Youtube and TV. I had never thought I would ever be hooked to either. But TV 5 Monde, a French channel that I discovered last year during the first lockdown impressed me with its content. Movies, or crime investigation type serials, with subtitles. I have continued watching this many evenings, and the standard of the channel is good, and there are no ads- a great bonus.

Also, on Youtube, found a superb series made by A and E America, called Nero Wolfe. The series is based on a favourite character written by Rex Stout, an American. Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe are like Watson and Holmes, but very different from those two. Wolfe never steps out of his house, and asks Archie to do the running around. There is usually a dramatic end to each story, with all the dramatis personae assembled in Wolfe's house-cum-office for the murderer to be unmasked, to the accompaniment of the police in the form of Inspector Cramer, a character by himself.

These come in handy when no outside entertainment is possible. Plus points of the pandemic? Not exactly, but they help. How long can you keep watching the same stats about death, infections and shortages, after all?

A A Fair

You might not recognise the name, but this is the other name used by one of the bestselling authors. Erle Stanley Gardner, who created the criminal lawyer -Perry Mason-who escorts all his clients out of a murder rap. Clever as hell, he has an efficient secretary, Della Street, and Paul, a private detective who does the shadowing of suspects and witnesses. Typical fast-paced American murder mysteries.

The same author has created another unforgettable pair of private detectives, Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. They are as unlike each other as a strawberry and a potato, but complement each other and run a deadly agency, always coming out trumps, even in the face of obstruction from the local police in the form of Sgt. Frank Sellers. I have just been reading a couple of Cool and Lam books, and they are ..cool.

The other good pair of detectives in book form is by Rex Stout- Nero Wolfe,the orchid-loving fat, brainy guy who never stirs out of his New York home-cum-office, cooks and leaves the leg work to his assistant Archie Goodwin. Haven't found him on shelves of book stores lately, but may be available on digital sites.

Agatha Christie, Mystery Books and Films

Agatha Christie was a part of growing up. I read a lot of her books. My favourite creation of hers is the Belgian with the egg-shaped head, Hercule Poirot. I also watched a few of the English films that were made based on her books. The three films I liked best were Evil Under the Sun, Death on the Nile, and Murder on the Orient Express. Naturally, they are all Hercule Poirot mysteries, with Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney playing him. I also saw a couple of films based on the Miss Marple character, but to me, she was an "inferior" detective.

The Hindi film Gumnaam was also based on And Then There Were None, written by her. It was a really good film in the suspense genre, where winners of a contest are flown to an island resort, and bumped off one by one..excellent plot. Mehmood acted really well, and the song Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwaale hain that he sang on-screen became a rage. Other popular songs were Jaane chaman, shola badan, filmed on the lead pair of Nanda and Manoj Kumar, and Jaan pehchan ho, jeena aasaan ho, sung at the party where the contest winners are announced at the beginning.

I doubt if anyone wrote as well as her in the world of detective fiction, though I also like Rex Stout and his detective Nero Wolfe (with Archie Goodwin as the sidekick), and Perry Mason, the lawyer who solved mysteries while getting his clients off the hook (literally, as they faced murder charges). A black and white TV series starring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason was my favourite while in the U.S. in the late eighties.

The other singular author in this genre was of course, Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes is incomparable, as is Watson. Elementary, you say? Also filmed well in an old TV series I remember watching on DD.

Interesting Fictional Characters

Alice from Wonderland is probably the most fascinating, that appeals to the child in all of us. Other assorted characters like the Mad Hatter are also very appealing.

Sindbad the sailor was one of my favourites, with his myriad voyages, each an adventure in itself.

The famous five of Enid Blyton, in two sets- the mystery series and the others.

Phantom, Mandrake, their respective girlfriends Diana and Narda, the skull cave, the jungle mail, and the secret villains, ..fascinating.

Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, Unhygienix, ..the names alone brought a twinkle to your eyes.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson, an inseparable combination of wit and the lack of it.

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin created by Rex Stout.

Bertha Cool and Donald Lam, and Perry Mason, all creations of Earl Stanley Gardner.

Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective of Agatha Christie. Par excellence!

An Indian detective in Bangla costume- Byomkesh Bakshi, immortalised in a TV serial.

Superman, with Christopher Reeve epitomising him.

Jeeves and Bertie, immortal creations from Wodehouse.

Remington Steele, starring Pierce Brosnan.

Birbal, and Tenali Raman- semi fictional, perhaps.

Mulla Naseeruddin, with his great wit.

James Bond, with his vodka Martinis.

Gabbar Singh, Mogambo, Mr. India, Amar, Akbar and Anthony, Gunmaster G-9.

Master Pillai from Padosan.

Babu Moshai from Anand. Anand from Anand.

Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi.

Laurel and Hardy.

Charlie Chaplin's common man. R.K. Lakshman's common man.

Casper, the friendly ghost. Little Lotta. Dennis the Menace.

Goofy, Donald, Mickey, Uncle Scrooge, Huey, Luey, Duey.