A
book is born - Part II
23.7.2013, Mumbai
Story
So Far was an
initiative by India Express Group to document Hindi cinema from the
origin to the year of publication 2003. Books like these are made
special by the rare pictures. My fifth book Cinema
Images & Issues (2004)
are a collection of film essays - some explored as academic study,
while some retained as stubborn memories that refuse to fade. The
concerns for the issues, I admit, came in much later after I had
sufficient exposure and the confidence to disagree and debate on what
I watched on screen and read on the subject.
I
had no idea that attending a dance ballet by Hema Malini as Draupadi
and commenting on it in my editorial would result in my sixth book
Hema Malini -
Authorised Biography
(2006). This was my second biography after Amitabh Bachchan
co-incidentally both superstars of the 70s and the 80s. Initially
Hema Malini wanted a book only on her as a dancer but I insisted on
including the woman and the actor because I knew the publisher would
not be happy printing her affair with dance and Hema understood and
accepted my decision. The pressures and the process of journeying her
life and getting to understand her as a person is an experience I
will always cherish.
(To
be continued)
Bhawana
Somaaya/ @bhawnasomaaya
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