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Thursday, 21 August 2014

New Book Launch- Decoding Bollywood by Author Sonia Golani

 
Anurag Basu- The Unpretentious Braveheart
“I remember, during the filming of a dance sequence, with the hero in a paddy field, I asked one of the background dancers how much he got paid and was told he made 800 bucks! I made friends with him and started looking for dancing roles which drew better remuneration.”

Ashutosh Gowariker- The Perfectionist
“Holi was seen by a whole lot of people including Bhatt sahab who later cast me in Naam. Amol Palekarji also cast me in a television series called kachchi Dhoop. I met people and got more work . And finally, I had to take the important decision of choosing acting as a full time profession.”

Farah Khan- The Trailblazer
“I see anew trend now, a breed of young 20 something women managers accompanying actresses. Earlier there used to be the quintessential star mommies who would chaperone their daughters but in retrospect I feel they were better than these new age managers who brainwash actresses”.

Kabir Khan- Life is an Adventure
'The only studio I didn't approach was Yashraj Films because of the stereotypes that we have in our minds; I though Yashraj only made chiffon romance and love stories, and why would they be interested in a film like Kabul Express! If at all they did , they would make sure to add an item number in it, and so on and so forth.'

Kunal Kohli- In his Mentor's Footsteps
“I was fortunate enough to be the last director at Yash Raj to witness an era when the company made films as a family and for this I will b grateful to Yashji, Aditya and Pam aunty. I was the first non family person to have become a director at YRF. I sort of inaugurated the Yashraj studio as the first film happened to be shot in Yash Raj was Fanaa.”

Mahesh Bhatt- The Plan-spoken Philosopher
“When i was fifteen , my mother asked me to work and somehow supplement my father's income and I began doing some odd jobs. A couple of years later, my cousin who was a close friend of Raj Khosla sahab helped me get a job as a production manager for Do Raaste. And form there began my journey in the world of films but only with the objective of making money.”

Nagesh Kukunoor- 'Indie' Spirit Personified

Shot in a short span of seventeen days,Nagesh's debut film, Hyderabad Blues was released in 1998 to much critical acclaim and became one of the most successful independent films and inadvertently also jumpstarted the Indie film movement in India. Besides receiving the Audience award for best film at both the Peachtree International Film Festival, it was showcased in several distinguished international festivals as well.

Nandita Das- A Humanitarian First
“Films happened completely by default like most things in my life. Ek Thi Goonja was a small “festival film” which won some awards, was shown on TV and then faded away. Finally, it wasn't even released commercially . So, Fire, which I did next, was in a way my first film. After Goonja I didn't think I would do another film but the role in Fire was not only interesting but very compelling.”

Prakesh Jha- The Soft- hearted Rebel

“ I wasn't a spendthrift those days and got by each day with the barest minimum, mainly for food and bus fares. Initially, there were days when I went without food but it was fine. Somehow, it never bogged me down and I could manage.”

R Balki- The Effervescent Dreamer
“I was sitting in this very room in 2005, I think , trying to do an advertisement for Lifebuoy soap when suddenly an idea for Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) came to me. Though I had never spoken to him over the phone, I fortunately had his number from his manager. I just messaged back , when do you want to meet you. He messaged back, when do ypu want to meet? I said, anytime you are free? Tomorrow, at 7? He said Iwas so zappeed and couldn't believe my luck that I had just messaged Amitabh Bachchan and he asked me to see him!”

Rakeysh Omprakesh Mehra – Quest for Originality
“During his early years in advertising, a Chandigarh-based automobile company, Swaraj Mazda, manufacturers of Light Commercial Vehicles. Rakeysh was deputed for a short stint to Hiroshima to not only understand the product, but also the Japanese work ethics of discipline, punctuality, etc. The exercise was meant to Japanesefy me.”

Rohit Shetty- The Midas Touch
“We don't have the kind of budgets Hollywood commands because of the size of its market.If the budget of rs 1400 crores is made available to a good director here, we can also make movies like Transformers”.

Sudhir Mishra- Romancing Cinema
“I owe a lot to the FTII. In the early Eighties, there was an open and liberal environment in the institute. One could walk into a class and nobody asked you any questions. It was an interesting place and helped me gain a lot clarity on the technical aspects of filmmaking.”

Vipul Shah- Passion, Patience, Perseverance
“I started as a backstage boy at Prithvi which meant holding actors slippers, helping them into their costumes, washing their lunch boxes, packing trunks and loading them on to trunks and so on. I worked with my fiest guru, the late Mahendra Joshi who passed on his obsession to me and to such an extent that I became useless for anything else.”

Zoya Akhtar- The Discerning One
“The only 'Hindi-Hindi' movie I worked on befo0re making mine was, Dil Chahta Hai and it wasn't really Bollywood because we set up and made it the way we wanted to.”


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Some like Farah Khan and Zoya Akhtar had sterling antecedents but it took a tough childhood and intermittent assignments on filmsets to win the box office with Om Shanti Om and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara; while Ashutosh Gowarikar auditioned for folk dances and failed with his debut film, Lagaan created cinematic history; and Anurag Basu had to first dance as a background extra and later overcome cancer to witness Barfi win hearts and awards. These and other hitherto unfamiliar stories of directors belonging to the “100 crore club” like Rohit Shetty and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra; the adventurous Kabir Khan; and the maverick, Mahesh Bhatt.

  • Priced at Rs 250
  • Publisher- Westland Limited


ABOUT THE AUTHOR SONIA GOLANI:


Sonia Golani has a BA (Hons.) in History from Lady Shri Ram College and a Masters degree from the University of Delhi. An entrepreneur, she manages her firm, Management Consultants Group which specializes in recruitment of professionals (MBA and CAs) for Banking, Financial Services, Insurance and FMCG sectors

Her second book, My Life, My Rules: Stories of 18 Unconventional Careers was published to much acclaim in 2013.

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