Growing up in India, one invariably grows up under the
shadow of Bollywood and it’s not uncommon to see crazy movie fans line up
outside theatres to watch the “first day, first show” (thought now you can
conveniently book your tickets on the internet), memorizing dialogues, and challenging
friends with who knows more about Hindi films and their actors. Despite
Bollywood (a word now added to the Oxford Dictionary) being such a driving
force in this country, surprisingly I’m not much of a movie watcher. Yes, I
watched all the Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna super hits on TV
while growing up, but even today ask me to go watch a film at a hall and eight
times out of ten you can be sure, I’ll make an unpleasant face.
So when I was asked to review Diptakirti’s book on
Bollywood trivia, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy it. But I was pleasantly
surprised to find that once I started, it was hard to stop. In his book, Diptakirti
has meticulously come up with 50 lists and 500 entries of interesting trivia,
which can only be the work of an avid movie watcher and a true fan- in short, a
Bollywood fans wildest dream come true!
Kitnay Aadmi Thay? spans Bollywood right from the
1950’s to now and gives you juicy nuggets of information that makes you go
“really!” What I most loved about the book is Diptakirti’s writing style, which
is hilarious and ensured that I laughed (out loud) my way thought it. The book
touches topics like the Ten best movies to have not been made, Films within
films, The (much stereotyped) portrayal of mothers, fathers, siblings and
friends in Bollywood, and my favourite, Brand placements in Bollywood- where
Diptakirti has mentioned hilarious moments from well known films-making me
burst out laughing, thanks to which I got curious looks from colleagues at
work, while sneakily reading the book in office.
I would highly recommend you read Kitnay Aadmi Thay?- Crazy
Bollywood fan or not, given Diptakirti’s infectious love for cinema and the
detailed and passionate research that has gone in, bringing to you a gem of a
book on all things Bollywood.
Westland Books organized a meeting with Diptakirti at Zura, a lovely bistro and bakery
in Gurgaon where we got a chance to interact with the author over lunch, where
we learned about his love for Hindi cinema and how he had watched Sholay in
bits and pieces over the span of a few days as a little boy. Lunch was a
leisurely, sit down affair at Zura, and apart from providing us excellent food, had
a wonderful relaxing ambience which was just perfect for such a gathering.
(This
is a book review requested by the publisher)
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