By Anupama Chopra.
Penguin.
Pages 376. Rs 499.
First Day First Show
BOLLYWOOD is a national obsession, more so than cricket and corruption. More than film-making per se, it encompasses within its ambit shenanigans of actors, directors, singers and of course the rumor-rife ubiquitous cine awards. Anupama Chopra’s First Day First Show taps this Indian desire for a peek into the life and times of Bollywood stars. Chopra cobbles together various articles authored by her for India Today, NDTV24x7 and The New York Times and in the process gives the reader quick view snapshots of Bollywood from 1993 to 2010. She also delves into her books Sholay: The Making of a Classic and King of Bollywood. Sharukh Khan’s quirky "Foreword" adds the necessary starry glitter. Khan’s unequivocal declaration, "It will be a ride. It will be a true representation of what a Hindi film is", raises high expectations.
The "Prologue" describes the run up to the launch of Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. The fine detailing of the initial wary and cautious response to Sholay and its slow but sure march towards blockbuster status is interesting to say in the least. Like a typical Hindi film, "Prologue" "mein emotion hai tragedy hai", and the reader is hooked. The articles that follow trace the evolution of Bollywood through the slapstick Aankhen to the sensual rendering of "Choli ke peeche" of Khalnayak to the zany Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Chopra in her more serious articles also dwells upon the plagiarism of scriptwriters who with panache borrowed from Hollywood and thought nothing of it.
The music industry flourished on stock music rather than creativity and the death of the audio king Gulshan Kumar spelt the end of ostentation in the film industry. The late 90s saw a paradigm shift which saw the emergence of stars that appealed to the urban populace. Sharukh Khan with his Hilfigers, artfully mussed up hair and dimpled smile became the urban icon with Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and DDLJ. The maniac intensity of Bazigar, Darr and Anjaam did nothing to dent the image of the uber cool romantic hero. Aamir Khan with his mustard yellow pants and the tapori act in Rangeela also made the cash registers ring. With the end of the 90s, Karan Johar’s "Designer sagas" hit big time. But fortunately, there was room for varied genres like the road movie Jab We Met, the angst ridden Dev D with its contemporary Devdas twist, the Forrest Gump-like My Name is Khan and the Chulbul Pandey-starrer Dabangg.
All in all, Chopra’s book is an enjoyable read for a relaxed Sunday afternoon. It has enough mirch-masala of the Bollywood kind to keep the reader glued. It also has some serious insights into the life of glitz and glamour which nevertheless has an unsavory underside. The underworld connections add an unusual twist in the manner of a typical potboiler of the Satya and Company genre. But read on, kyunki "picture abhi baaki hai mere dost".
Buy the book at Amazon.com First Day First Show
Published in the Tribune dated 17 July 2011 Part of the Dream Weave Walk Network 1999-2012