Clash of the Titans

FILMS

It's the clash of the titans as Marvel and DC launch the most anticipated superhero films of the year. There is Thor: Ragnarok, the third instalment featuring Chris Hemsworth as the Norse god. Joining him to battle Hela (Cate Blanchett), the goddess of death, is Mark Ruffalo (Hulk). Giving it competition is the dark and broody Justice League (Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Henry Cavill). Here's hoping the movie cleanses us of the debacle that was Batman v Superman. There's also Disney Pixar's Coco and Agatha Christie's classic Murder on the Orient Express starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp.

Hindi cinema offers up a platterful of fun and romance. There's the cheeky and delightful Tumhari Sulu (Vidya Balan) about a homemaker turned radio jockey, Ribbon (Kalki Koechlin) that traces the ups and downs of love and marriage, and the quirky Qareeb Qareeb Single (Irrfan Khan, Parvathy).

Thrill seekers can turn to Ittefaq (Sidharth Malhotra, Sonakshi Sinha), a nail-biting murder mystery. Do try and catch the hard-hitting film on climate change Kadvi Hawa (Sanjay Mishra, Ranvir Shorey) directed by National Award winner Nila Madhab Panda.

BOOKS

Just six months before Beau lost his battle to brain cancer he told his father, US vice president Joe Biden, "Promise me, Dad. Give me your word that no matter what happens, you're going to be alright." It's these words that make up the title to Biden's memoir Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose (Pan Macmillan) that chronicles one of the most challenging periods of his life as he struggled to be a father while in office. Award-winning novelist Jeet Thayil returns with The Book of Chocolate Saints (Aleph) to tell "the story of Newton Francis Xavier, blocked poet, serial seducer of young women, reformed alcoholic (but only just), philosopher, recluse, all-round wild man and India's greatest living painter". There is the magnificent Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Bloomsbury) by J. K. Rowling, now out with an updated new edition with full colour illustrations. We would also recommend Simon & Schuster's Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, a revealing biography of the Renaissance genius based on new discoveries and his notebooks.

TELEVISION

Wordsmith extraordinaire Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace comes to Netflix this month in a six-episode miniseries and delves into the life of Grace Marks, a quiet maid convicted of double murder in a tiny Canadian town in 1843. Then there is Godless, about a gang of outlaws out for revenge. Also up for couch potatoes is Marvel's Runaways and a reimagining of Aaron Spelling's S.W.A.T. for some muscled action.