A Cinephile’s TBR
Bollywood!
What image does this word evoke in you?—A cheesier version of Hollywood? Lots of colours? Song and dance? OTT drama and dialoguebaazi?
For the world, these may be the hallmarks of the Hindi film industry, but Bollywood is more than a mere genre or a musical. It is a microcosm of India—diverse, bright, larger than life and ever-changing. The biggest film industry in the world on the basis of number of films made, Bollywood is India’s most potent soft power. Despite the movies being made in Hindi, a language hardly spoken by non-Indians, Bollywood films have found their way to highly divergent cultures and made icons of its actors. From Russia’s Raj Kapoor fascination to Germany’s Shah Rukh Khan obsession; for the world, Bollywood has always been the first window to Indian culture. And now, due to the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan, the world is finally waking up to the power of this 106-year-old industry.
Are you a Bollywood nut, too? Then check out the following books, which lay bare the workings of this magical universe and its charismatic stars. Picture…abhi baaki hai mere dost…
Irrfan Khan: The Man, The Dreamer, The Star
Drawn from personal interviews and told through many voices, Aseem Chhabra traces Irrfan’s personal and artistic life in all its many shades. Rich in detail and peppered with anecdotes, it is a fascinating look at the life and work of the actor that begins in a small household in Rajasthan and culminates in his face gazing down from billboards in Hollywood. It explores some of his greatest performances that have shown India and the world what cinema can do. It’s set to release in January 2020
KHANTASTIC: The Untold Story of Bollywood’s trio
Destiny binds together this charismatic trio—Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir. They not only started their journey in Bollywood around the same time but also share vestiges of Pashtun descent in their bloodline. Over time, their tempestuous rivalry turned into friendship as they became an indomitable triumvirate. Three different, yet magnetic personalities—they form the three points of the invisible Bandra Triangle in Mumbai as their brotherhood reigns permanently over a capricious Bollywood.
Priyanka Chopra: The Incredible Story of a Global Bollywood Star
Once upon a time a girl said, ‘In India, real people don’t become movie stars.’ The same girl became the biggest crossover star. That very girl can’t walk around in New York City now ‘without being mobbed’. That’s Priyanka Chopra for you. This book explores everything that led to her phenomenal success—in Bollywood and Hollywood. Peppered with anecdotes and events from her life behind the screen, her real story is too a blockbuster.
Sanjay Dutt: One Man, Many Lives
Delving deep into both the man and his circumstances, this book tells the uncut, untold and uncensored story of Sanjay Balraj Dutt. What emerges is an account—as much about one man’s laudable efforts to keep reinventing himself, as it is about his privileges. Privileges that were seldom earned and always taken for granted. This is the closest anyone can ever come to understanding Sanju Baba.
In a Cult of Their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office
This book, which received special mention in the category of ‘Best Book on Cinema’ at the 66th National Awards, is a tongue-in-cheek ode to these cult movies of Hindi filmdom, ones that despite not having made moolah at the box office, still made it to viewers’ memories for reasons—good or bad. Drawing from his own reminiscences of growing up on these delectables, and also face-to-face interviews with actors and directors such as Aamir Khan, Pankaj Kapur and Deepti Naval, the author celebrates these underdogs in a manner that is extremely readable and relatable.
Khwaabon Ka Safar with Mahesh Bhatt
This book takes us through the incredible journey of Bollywood’s landmark film studios which gave us iconic stars and cinematic masterpieces and provides the captivating stories behind Bollywood’s top thirteen studios—from Prabhat Film Company (1929) to Filmayala (1958) with which the studio era ended. The book weaves in various interesting anecdotes about our erstwhile studio system, the great entrepreneurial skills of the forefathers of Hindi cinema, their iconic films and the superstars they created.
Cracking the Code: My Journey in Bollywood
So you love the spotlight and drama of Bollywood, and want to make it your life. But what is the right time to become a professional actor? What sort of hindrances are you likely to face as you make your way through the film and television industry? And, most importantly, how do you make it happen? Ayushmann Khurrana—actor, singer and television personality—tries to answer these questions and outlines a step-by-step guide to making it big in tinsel town, drawing on his personal experiences as a rising star in Bollywood.
Which of these were already on your reading list?
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