Sholay The Making of A Classic - Anupama Chopra (Book & Movie)

Book: 24/52
Sholay The Making of A Classic - Anupama Chopra
My Rating: 5/5

I have never read a single review so far from Ms Chopra due to her usual controversial opinions (Example: Dhurandhar), and no way I would have picked up a book from her as I had no idea if she had written anything other than this one. For me, she was more of a celebrity wife enjoying her husband’s fame mostly, but this book changed all that for me and has certainly upped her respect a bit, too, in my eyes. Now, this one happens to be on the making of one of my all-time favourite movies, coincidentally, it was released the same year I was born. If I go by my mom’s records, this and Big B’s other movie, “Zanjeer”, were my first two movies on the big screen. And if I am not wrong, I must have seen Shoaly at least a good 25 times by now, with thrice on the big screen, once when it was re-released in the 90’s, second time a decade back in Mumbai when they released its 3D version with my dad and mom and a few months back when they released the Director’s cut version. It is always amazing to watch the movie on a big or small screen, as I know all its dialogues by heart, as Dad had an LP version of its dialogues, which was a rage back in the 70’s, and we would force him to put it on our record player almost every Sunday. With two tower speakers kept at a distance of a good 20 feet in my living room, we ran from one to another as the legendary dialogues boomed from one to another. It was a crazy experience till we watched it for the first time on a big screen. This is one of those very few movies that has aged so well that even today it is able to keep me engaged throughout and still arouses my emotions to a high degree with that classic ending. Now reading this book on the making of the movie was an eye opener of sorts, and I finished reading it two days back and trust me, for the last two days I have been pakaoing my wife and daughter with so many stories and facts about the movie that they have given up on me :). 

I guess Ms Chopra had solid access to the classics’ archives, and who in the world will deny her an interview when it comes to her contacts being terrific in the industry? Although I am way too late to read this one, as it was first published in the year 2000 on the movie’s 25th anniversary, and I have read the same on the movie’s 50th anniversary, can you imagine how late one can be :). The entire movie’s journey from four sentences in the minds of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar to a full-fledged movie was one heck of a story captured in almost 200 pages with some fantastic pictures thrown in as a bonus, although in the paperback edition, the pictures are black and white, and some are not as clear as we expect. I guess one should have got a hardback, assuming it will be better in that. And then, when it comes to gathering star power for the movie, Director Ramesh Sippy tried to get hold of Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, and Amitabh Bachchan for the pivotal two characters, which will become legends in the long run. So many replacements and final selections were a topsy-turvy story, and then the final selection of the actor who was supposed to play the baddie, which will become an iconic name in the Indian movie industry - Gabbar Singh, choices were from Danny to Dharmedra himself to lesser-known Amjad Khan. How he selects, later regrets half the way and around the movie’s release and later settles for him with a terrific outcome, which takes its own sweet time in culminating. I couldn’t believe my eyes to read that the movie was a flop initially and later on the public turned back to the movie and never left the theater’s, if the facts are to be believed it ran 5 years straight in some cinemas and kept on running the mattinee show for another few years after it finished its run time and even Ramesh Sippy had to request his distributors to remove it and put his next stylishe James Bondesque movie “Shaan” on big screen. So many stories behind the lovely characters of Gabbar Singh’s right and left-hand men - Sambha and Kaaliya were hilarious as well as heart-touching. Imagine Viju Khote, who plays Kaaliya’s character, his son hated it when everyone around them used to call his father Kaaliya :). I am sure that as he grew up, he must have felt proud of the same. 

While the movie was being made, there were multiple love stories going on in real time around the set and location around Ramanagram (near Bangalore), where they set up the whole village for the movie for the duration of almost two years. Sanjeev Kumar had promised Hema Malini and was promptly rejected by her. Dharmendra, too, was in love with her but was already married; his histronics to win her heart were superb stories, and how they made the lightmen rich in those days was hilarious to know. Dharmendra requested Ramesh Sippy to let him play Gabbar, but later, when he was told that in the end, the movie, his nemesis would get Hema, he promptly accepted the main lead role just to get her in the end :). Story writing process from four lines to a half-hour affair, final movie coming out close to seven hours, with a terrific editor at the helm of things, making it a perfect movie. Music Director R D Burman, another legendary figure from the film industry, created music that was never heard before, from the villain’s signature sound to the sound of terror and thrill. It was fantastic to read how he created it. One song which they recorded first but had no space in the movie to shoot it, how it became almost the first item song in an Indian movie and again, Salim Khan wanted to participate in the song because he too was in love with the woman playing “Mehbooba” was super fun to read, what happened in the end - we all know already. I mean, after reading the book in flat 2-3 sittings, I had to follow it up with the movie as that totally changed my perspective of how I had watched it so many times earlier but watching it after this book gave me such a deeper meaning and connect with the classic, I can’t thank enough Ms Chopra for actually writing one amazing book and giving us so many insider stories on the much loved classic. And guess what, I can keep talking about it a lot more, but will stop it here and recommend it big time, especially to those who have loved the movie and still watch it again and again.

Do let me know if you have read this one and loved it. And I need to find out if she has written any other book on the making of any other classic Indian movie. I would definitely look forward to it at the earliest. 

Mother Mary Comes to Me - Arundhati Roy (Book).

Book: 23/52

Mother Mary Comes to Me - Arundhati Roy

My Rating: 4/5

After loving her “The God of Small Things) twice, once in college and again last year, I had to get this one at the earliest, but it was too pricey, so I waited for discounts, but then got it in our library last month and gladly grabbed it at a throwaway price. So far, I have read one more from her, “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”, and haven’t yet read any of her non-fiction because I am not too much into politics. Now, after reading this sort of Autobiography and knowing her real story in her own words, I feel like getting all her books in publication order and reading them back to back. Do let me know if you have read more of her, and if that's going to be a good idea for me or not. Now this one was totally terrific, the rags to riches story of Arundhati, right from the start of her life to writing and the grand success of God of Small Things, and so much more going on in between. It covers almost everything anyone would like to know about her in the first place. I didn’t know that he acted in movies and was even a part of a few that she made with her then partner, who later became her husband. Coming from a broken family background with a good-for-nothing alcoholic father who vanished pretty often from their life. Although she kept mentioning and talking about him in a very loving manner, his histrionics were laugh-out-loud affairs, bringing so much delight to her life story. Her mother (Mary) was a fighter, who not only fought for her own two children (with her husband too), her own brother and parents and even fought a furious battle with the state of Kerala for women’s right in paternal property, you’ve got to read the book to know the totally amazing outcome. Mother Mary started her life as a single parent with no support, even from her own parents or siblings, and she faces animosity as she starts her own school and takes it to the next level. How she does that was incredible to read. Loved the way she has captured the mother-daughter relationship, at times it had me in splits, and at other times it not only made me emotional but brought tears to my eyes. Reminded me so much of my own mother with a stiff back, full of self-respect and a head always held high, come what may attitude. I believe we all had those kinds of parents back in the day, and now God doesn't make them anymore :). 

The entire book and the story behind the making of Arundhati Roy is a roller coaster ride of a totally different kind. Her language is so good, easy on the eyes, and pretty connecting on heart front, I loved it right from the very start and was initially shocked by the way she kept calling all the names without a thought, especially her days in college, first few assignments, making adjustments with no money, no fallback plans, and so much more. The book is hardly 350+ pages, but it reads like a charm for only the first 250 pages till her struggles continue. But the moment it crosses the God of Small Things chapter, and she starts with her opinions on the political front and all the current issues, it simply becomes very tough to read. Of course, India is a democracy, and everyone has a right to his or her opinion, nothing wrong in that, but the way she takes the fascism head-on, it is scary even to think, let alone imagine how she was or still is doing it, and her ideologies, again, nothing wrong in that, but to what extent she takes it was totally unbelievable. Reason enough for me to pick up a few of her non-fiction books now to get into more details of all the episodes that she has touched on in this one, briefly. I loved the book cover and back page as well, as you can see the front has her own younger self smoking a “bidi” and on the back page is her current picture with almost no expression on her face. The book jacket, for some reason, is half the size of the book and makes it tough to hold while reading the book, but my smart librarian has solved the problem by taping the jacket from the inside to make it stick to the hardback. Undoubtedly, the book will be remembered more for her mother than herself as she has written it for her mother with so much love, affection and unresolvable differences with her (I guess we all had that with our own parents at one point or another). I, for some reason, still find it tough to handle them (Mom, if you are reading this, please don’t take it to heart, but you are one tough cookie to break, you know that, and you only made me, and let’s not even start about Dad, more when we meet at the end of July). 

Do let me know if you have read this one and how it turned out for you. Also, let me know if you have a personal favourite non-fiction from her. I will be starting with her first book in publication order and will read it at the earliest. 

 

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny - Kiran Desai (Book).

Book: 22/52

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny - Kiran Desai

My Rating: 3/5

After reading and liking her “The Inheritance of Loss”, I had to get this one at the earliest because the opinions of readers on this one were totally poles apart, some liked it, some loved it, and for a few it made no sense too. Now, I am somewhere in between, of course I finished the mammoth 670+ paged book; it took me close to one full month, though and yet I can’t claim that I liked it. Somehow, I wasn’t able to connect with Sonia or with Sunny in their journey and life in the US of A, and even when they come back and live a little in India too. The story is set between the mid-90s and flows into the early 2000s, too. My first problem (why I couldn’t like or love it) with the story was that upto the half way mark, they don’t even meet, post the point they actually meet for the first time, so many sidey unnecessary stories kept me boring to no end, their uncles, aunts, parents separation as both were from broken families, grand parents story and so much more. I just couldn’t make out which direction Kiran wanted it to take, and whether she was successful in doing that. I‘ve got to do a little more research on the book and find out if she herself is satisfied with the outcome, because I totally am not, hence the low rating. As was the case in her previous book, her stories are more of a perspective of immigrants or say non-immigrants (temporary visa holders in search of green cards) and their struggles in making ends meet. I could understand and sympathise with the characters on that front as I myself was working with an American firm in the same period of time and was taking care of the visa stuff for a lot of our employees and trust me, I still am in touch with a few of them who haven’t got the citizenship but very hopefull that in very near future they might get the final stamp. 

What turned me off at times, or rather made me sad, was the state of India that she has captured through her story. No denying, it still goes the same way even now, nothing much has changed that we have crossed a quarter of the 21st century. But she balances the whole act out by showing the true picture of American life too, that too in great detail. Guess what, she lived only 16 years in India and then moved to the USA permanently. I am sure she must have kept coming back to India, as her character’s experiences are too personal when it comes to sharing them as a story with her readers. No one can write that perfectly without having first-hand experience, for sure. Sunny and his friend visiting India to get married and find a perfect girl was such a heart touching affair, Sunny’s animosity with his own parents, their further internal indifferences, and on top of that terms with their neighbours, whose daughter he was supposed to marry in the first place (Sonia), you’ve got to read the book to know the reason why that propsal comes through in the first place (hilarious) and the outcome. Both Sunny and Sonia live in relationships with their partners, and the back stories were totally believable, too. The one thing that worked big time in favour of the whole book for me was the life and times shown in Allahabad (Galawati and Kakori Kebab stories), times and life in Panchsheel park (New Delhi) and Lodhi garden :) (I still remember how was that rated back then), and the goings on, which were a fantastic pulling me back to the book stuff that I loved. Typical Indian relatives with their stories, family disputes related to property and jewels, how it all ends for Sunny’s family was totally believable, and I must say an apt ending to the saga. Also, the detailing of the life of Sonia’s boyfriend, the artist, was fantastic. I didn’t like the way it ended, and I am surprised by not finding many details on Sunny’s girlfriend in the book. I wonder why she was partial to her :). She has also captured the volatile episodes not only from the Indian political situation but also from the USA. If you see the period, you can guess what I am talking about. I don't want to give out any spoilers. But again, what didn’t work for me was that she barely touched those episodes and takes a sidey shortcut, gives no personal opinion or verdict, it's like those things just happened while her characters were going through so much in their own lives. Otherwise, it had the potential to actually become and read like an epic. I would rather give the book a few years and wait and watch to see what mark it makes in the near future. It for sure won’t read or make me feel like the way her earlier “Inheritance of Loss” did. 

But I must say that she does capture and showcase the essence of a non-immigrant’s life abroad, saying it from my personal experience with so many family and friends who are still going through the same in today’s time. It is all so genuinely written that it doesn’t read at all like fiction. Also, it takes guts for an American to write a story like that and comment or accept on something like the 9/11 attack as “it was time someone did that to us to make us understand how it feels”. Do let me know if you have read it yet and liked it or hated it? 

 

The Summer Book - Tove Jansson (Book).

Book: 21/52

The Summer Book - Tove Jansson 

My Rating: 5/5

As I mentioned earlier in my posts, I have started forcing my friends and relatives from foreign lands to get me books, only that too from the local writers of the country they are coming from. And this one turns out to be a lovely book that my nephew returning from Helsinki, got me last year. I only got to read it now, as my mom hijacked it in the first place, and I practically had to blackmail her to give it to me after she finished it. It’s a heart-touching story written by a granddaughter, dedicated to her Grand Ma. I felt like I was reading my own adventures with my lovely Grandmother. Her histrionics were no different than the one captured in this story by Tove Jansson. Totally missed my Grandma with every anecdote and every story that I read in this one. Jansson is best known as the creator of the Moomin stories, pretty famous not only in Finland / Sweden but in the entire Nordic region. Her stories have been published in multiple languages. The Summerbook was one of the ten novels that she wrote for adults, and it is regarded as a modern classic, and now I know why. This was about an elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter during the summers together on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. Both of them learn to adjust to each other’s whims, fancies, stories and even superstitions :). It is full of humorous stories and their adventures. On top of that, Tove Jansson accepts that this is more of her own experience and spirit in the book, which she has captured as her niece’s point of view and a lot of her grandmother’s character she has picked up from her mother, which makes it even better and gives us an amazing insight into the author. On top of that, this 50th edition includes an afterword by Tove’s niece, Sophia Jansson, which was incredible to read once I finished the novel, and it has a Foreword too by Esther Freud (As you can guess by the name, she is Sigmund Freud great grand daughter). Can it get any better?

This book sent me back in time when I was six or seven years old. I would follow my grandmother everywhere she went. Our house was the last in the lane back in the day, and beyond that, there were acres of farm land, followed by deep dark wood, which ended on the slopes of a huge hill that had a temple on top. Sometimes my grandma will go to the middle of the woods to look for some tree’s bark to make a medicinal brew for my grandpa, and in the process of going so far from home, she will take a few bidis and will smoke while no one follows us. Of course, my dad and his brothers knew of her smoking habit, but no one questioned her, as she was very tough to handle. As time passed and I grew and got into a job, I used to visit her once a year, and she would ask me with her expressions if I got her a pack of cigarettes and trust me, she used to share one with me on the rooftop every time I visited her and promised that she smoked only with me. After her death, I found out that the same promise was made to all my cousins and my own elder brothers too :). Now, Sophia’s Grandma used to smoke, but usually she won’t smoke in front of her son, and she will pick up a few flowers, roots and whatnot to make a brew too, just like my Grandma. She would walk with a stick but was tough like a rock when it comes to sailing her boat to other parts of the island or even crossing into other territories, she even onces goes and breaks into a house across the shore which she doesn’t like much as it was destroying the beauty of the island and you’ve got to read the book to know what happens when the owner of that house catches them red-handed breaking into his house. 

I must tell you this, too, that the book has a beautiful cover, as I am sure you can make out by the picture I have posted. It isn’t a hardback, but the thick sheet that makes up the cover is folded inside and on the last page of the book detailing the writer and story, both on the front and back respectively. It was so amazing to hold it and so soothing on the eyes because of the beautiful island picture on top. As I started reading this, my nephew actually cycled to the island captured in this one and sent me a picture in real time, and I must say, nothing much has changed on the island in the last 50+ years of this book's writing, as it still looks the same as in the book cover. 

Now that I have read the Summer Book and loved it, I am super keen on getting her “Winter Book” too and reading it ASAP. I may blackmail my nephew now to send me a copy soon from Finland as he ain’t coming back before Christmas. On top of that, this one has been adapted into a beautiful movie too, which I need to find and watch at the earliest. Do let me know if you have read this one or anything else from Tove Jansson. 

 

Favourite Stories - Premchand (Book).

Book: 20/52

Favourite Stories - Premchand

My Rating: 5/5

Just finished my 4th Hindi book of the year, and that too from one of my all-time favourite writers - Premchand. I’ve read almost all his books and stories back in school and college time, as my mother had most of them. All his stories and novels are based on the early 20th century and show us the true face of typical Indian society back in those days. Heart-touching true-to-life stories always reminded me of so many movies based on similar subjects and stories by my favourite movie director, Satyajit Ray. On your face, the straight truth is always on the right mark. This book too had a collection of 17 short stories, which sent me back in time when I actually used to play the game of Gulli-Danda with my friends and cousins. After reading the heart-touching story of two friends who meet again after decades of separation, where one has grown to be a big shot, and his friend remains the small-town guy with almost no life to claim any fame for. How they end up playing one last game and who wins is the story to read. This one made me actually call my cousin to understand how we played the game and what the penalty was for the loser :), Do you remember playing a game like that in the past? Then comes another terrific story of an untouchable woman, who wants to get inside a temple to pray for his dying son and to my shock and amazement, the then society won’t allow her to enter the temple, let alone touch the statue. How his son’s life ends without her prayers brought tears to my eyes. Thank God that this isn’t done anymore in today’s time, and we have come a long way on that prospect at least. But from all these stories, my favourite was the one called “Dhokha” where a prince goes in search of his would-be life partner without anyone’s knowledge, just to see who he was supposed to marry. Fortunately, without her knowledge, he leaves a very deep mark on her with his mythological singing, which he performs for her. Later, they do marry, but since she doesn’t know who she married, she keeps looking for that unknown singer. How the story ends was totally amazing. 

And then there are so many stories touching the typical Indian subjects with such ease that I can call his words magical; reading them in Hindi actually makes it special. Of course, after reading four back-to-back Hindi books from Jai Shankar Prasad, Sarat Chandra and even Tagore, I will say Premchand’s Hindi is the best and simplest. I actually didn't have to Google any words that made no sense to me this time. Most of his stories are either based on the women’s plight, untouchability or about those who were too poor to fight for their own rights one way or another. One of the stories reminded me of my own grandmother, who used to tell me about a very old superstitious story (not for her, though) about a girl who had three brothers. They used to call her “Tainter” (in Hindi), and she usually brought trouble to one of the brothers by just being born in the family. Can you believe that? Unfortunately, in our neighbourhood, one of the kids actually died in an accident, and since they too were three brothers and one sister, they blamed the girl for it, and since then, she was called a Tainter in our little town for the rest of her life (till we lived there). 

After reading these gems from the master storyteller, which I felt were too short with hardly 200 pages, I am looking forward to reading a few of his novels again. Do let me know if you have read anything from Premchand in recent times or if you have a personal favourite. I have so many that I don’t want to list them, but rather get them soon and read at the earliest.