The world is feeling the impact of Bollywood like never before. From the Oscar-nominated Lagaan to Bajrangi Bhaijaan to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Bollywood has come a long way since the watershed Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and the UK Top Ten debut of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Where earlier it was in Russia, East Europe and Africa where Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan enjoyed a devoted fan base, today the entire world is as entertained by the three
Khans as by the international stars Irrfan, Priyanka and Deepika.
In Bollywood Boom, National Award-winner Roopa Swaminathan opens a window to the spectacular success of Bollywood in the twenty-first century and its direct contribution to India’s rising soft power and influence. Using extensive research, a compelling argument and fun anecdotes, Roopa shows how Bollywood not only brings to the country real income through trade and tourism, but also enhances its global standing.
In the 1970s, Rajesh Khanna achieved the kind of fame that no film star had ever experienced before-or has since. But then he saw it all vanish. They say superstardom destroyed him. But was it something else buried deep in his past?
In this riveting biography, award winning journalist Yasser Usman examines Rajesh Khanna’s dramatic, colourful life in its entirety: from little-known facts about his childhood to the low-down on his relationships and rivalries, from his ambitious hopes to his deep-seated insecurities. What emerges is a tantalizingly written, meticulously researched chronicle of a fascinating and mercurial man-one who was both loved and feared by those closest to him. It is a story that encapsulates the glittering, seductive, cut-throat world of Bollywood at its best and its worst.
Ever wondered how Farhan Akhtar trained to play a professional athlete in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, or what diet plan Aamir Khan followed to maintain those rock-hard abs in Dhoom 3? If yes, this is the book for you. Veteran journalists Ram Kamal Mukherjee and Devyani Ghosh interview the fitness trainers behind the amazing physiques of Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Bipasha Basu, Farhan Akhtar, Tiger Shroff, Priyanka Chopra, Varun Dhawan and Sonu Sood.
With detailed daily workouts, diets and plans followed by these actors for specific roles, this book will show you how to get in shape like your favourite movie star. The authors also provide a peek into each star’s fitness philosophy, along with interesting personal anecdotes and the ways in which they motivate themselves to not only achieve great bodies but also maintain them. Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey or looking to ramp it up a notch, this book is sure to help you look like a star.
Blurb:
Since Bollywood’s earliest days, women have played a part in its success, both in front of the camera and away from it. Yet it has taken more than half a century for women to assert their presence in significant numbers in Bollywood. Today, Hindi cinema relies on a record number of women who work tirelessly, sometimes invisibly, to keep the world’s largest dream factory buzzing.
This book tells the story of twenty incredible women, many with no prior connections in the industry, who have carved successful careers despite significant challenges. They often work away from the public gaze-as studio heads, producers, directors, make-up artists, stylists, script writers, lyricists,editors, choreographers, stunt artists, set designers, and in the many other jobs that support the making of a movie. These women deserve to be applauded and their journeys acknowledged, as they transform Bollywood and in the process, create a new India.
In a remote village in the foothills of the Himalayas, a gifted but unknown poet named Kalidas nurtures an unconventional romance with his youthful muse, Mallika. When the royal palace at Ujjayini offers him the position of court poet, Kalidas hesitates, but Mallika persuades him to leave for the distant city so that his talent may find recognition. Convinced that he will send for her, she waits. He returns years later, a broken man trying to reconnect with his past, only to discover that time has passed him by.
A classic of postcolonial theatre, Mohan Rakesh’s Hindi play is both an unforgettable love story and a modernist reimagining of the life of India’s greatest classical poet. It comes alive again in Aparna and Vinay Dharwadker’s new English translation, authorized by the author’s estate. This literary rendering is designed for performance on the contemporary cosmopolitan stage, and it is enriched by extensive commentary on the play’s contexts, legacy, themes and dramaturgy.
When Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman, News Corporation, blew up more than $870 million buying Star TV from Richard Li in the early 1990s, analysts were dismayed. Why on earth had Murdoch invested in a pan-Asian broadcaster that was neither fish nor fowl?
More than twenty-five years later, with revenues of over $2 billion, Star India is one of the country’s three largest media firms. Murdoch’s instinct had done what a hundred investor summits could not: showcased the potential of the Indian media market to the world. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar tells the thrilling story of Indian television through its most notable protagonist: Star TV. The narrative is peppered with delicious anecdotes and a fascinating cast of characters that includes Rathikant Basu, Peter Mukerjea, Uday Shankar, Sameer Nair and the Murdochs, who loom large over every scene.
Foreword by Mahesh Bhatt
‘A remarkable story’-Tina Ambani
Growing up on the fringes of our capital city, Gulshan Grover moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting in the 1970s. At a time when most wannabe actors held out for the lead, he made a conscious choice to opt for villainous roles. He went on to portray many memorable characters, with a career-defining role in the 1989 blockbuster, Ram Lakhan, that established him firmly as the ‘Bad Man’ of Bollywood.
Many a mainstream potboiler of the era rode to success on his trademark one-liners and grotesque get-ups that have become part of Bollywood folklore. He subsequently moved on to the international arena, among the first actors from Mumbai to do so, in the process becoming one of India’s more recognizable faces in international cinema.
In this autobiography, Grover tells his story-the films, the journey, the psychological and personal toll of sustaining the ‘bad man’ image, the competition among Bollywood’s villains, the move to playing more rounded characters, and the challenge of doing international films without relocating to another country or opting out of mainstream Hindi cinema.
National Award Winner: ‘Best Book On Film’ Year 2000.
Film Journalist Anupama Chopra Tells The Fascinating Story Of How A Four-Line Idea Grew To Become The Greatest Blockbuster Of Indian Cinema. Starting With The Tricky Process Of Casting, Moving On To The Actual Filming Over Two Years In A Barren, Rocky Landscape, And Finally The First Weeks After The Film’S Release When The Audience Stayed Away And The Trade Declared It A Flop, This Is A Story As Dramatic And Entertaining As Sholay Itself. With The Skill Of A Consummate Storyteller, Anupama Chopra Describes Amitabh Bachchan’S Struggle To Convince The Sippys To Choose Him, An Actor With Ten Flops Behind Him, Over The Flamboyant Shatrughan Sinha; The Last-Minute Confusion Over Dates That Led To Danny Dengzongpa’S Exit From The Fim, Handing The Role Of Gabbar Singh To Amjad Khan; And The Budding Romance Between Hema Malini And Dharmendra During The Shooting That Made The Spot Boys Some Extra Money And Almost Killed Amitabh.
A legend with a host of admirers like Amitabh Bachchan and Om Puri, Balraj Sahni led the golden era of Indian cinema. He was known to be true to his principles, a non-conformist often remembered for his portrayals of the underprivileged. This is the untold story of one of the most iconic leading actors of this country. Written by his son Parikshat Sahni, the book–packed with unseen photos–provides personal and intimate glimpses of Balraj Sahni as a man and an actor, as a husband and friend, as a parent and patriot. It celebrates the life, times and impact of a simple man who inspired an entire generation of actors and continues to do so even today.
Hailed as the first pan-Indian female superstar in an era which literally offered actresses crumbs, Sridevi tamed Hindi cinema like no other. Beginning her affair with the camera when she was four, this doe-eyed beauty conquered Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada industries with performances etched in gold. Taking Hindi cinema by storm with Himmatwala in 1983, Sridevi emerged as one of the most iconic screen goddesses of India, playing characters that went on to become cultural touchstones.
A supreme artiste who had mastered all the nine rasas, her comedy was peerless, her dances legendary, her histrionics awe-inspiring and her life a study in contrast, electric on screen, strangely reticent off it. Besides reigning as queen bee for the longest spell among Hindi heroines, she also remains the only actress who was No.1 in Tamil and Telugu cinema as well.
Such was Sridevi’s megastardom that she emerged as the ‘hero’ at the box office, towering above her male co-actors. Challenging patriarchy in Bollywood like no other, she not only exalted the status of the Hindi film heroine but also empowered a whole generation of audiences. After a hiatus of fifteen years, she shattered the rules again by becoming the only Bollywood diva to make a triumphant comeback in 2012 with the globally acclaimed English Vinglish.
If her life played out forever in the limelight, so did her sudden demise in 2018. Charting five decades of her larger-than-life magic, this book celebrates both the phenomenon and the person Sridevi was. This is her journey from child star to one of our greatest movie luminaries who forever changed the narrative of Indian cinema.
