A Dash of Star Dust

He writes like a cross between a paperback writer, a screenplay writer and an advertising copywriter, complete with big statements, great one-liners, film-like cut-points and dramatic incidents, all of which at times seem too fantastic to be true. But as you go on, if you have even an elementary knowledge of the Hindi film industry, it slowly begins to dawn upon you that it all actually bloody happened. And you begin cursing the fate for bringing you into this world too late, almost when all the fun is over. It was a different era. The cool, swinging Bombay of the ’40s, which could make the one of today look like a silly imitation. The legendary studio system that moved freely between Bombay and Poona, with huge stars on meagre salaries. The passionate relationships between the giant men and women who ruled it. And in all this you witness the transformation of the awkward but brash young man from Punjab, with a high school-dude-like-spring in the step and a debating society-winner-like-gift for putting his best foot forward, into India’s new style icon.

From his first ever job in the British Government Censor Office to his first break in a movie in Prabhat Studios of Poona to his second, offered by Ashok Kumar himself at the famous Bombay Talkies, and all the films he made since with his brothers, and himself — it is one hell of a story of guts, gumption and gamble, of a spirit which was fuelled in equal parts by curiosity, a desire to become somebody and a desire to be desired. Pure, unadulterated, classic movie-star stuff — various romantic, semi-romantic, would-be and could-be romantic relationships included — shared with tact and sensitivity yet with the awe of a curious schoolboy still intact. His way is designed and forthright, both at the same time, and as you turn the pages, you realise so is the man — no wonder he made a great star.

In all the glamour and glitter, you feel the boy from Gurdaspur peeping from behind, smiling with you at his adventures, never really far away. And even if you do lose him in his bombing of style, he comes back every time he shares his passion for the films he made and still makes, as he tells you the ideas he had, how again and again he bet his shirt and reputation for them, and how he made them into movies. The man’s love for movies, for saying things in them that he wants to shout out to the rest of the world, and for the process which still confounds even the best in the field today, is infectious. I assure you, even if you never dreamt of making movies, that after reading this book, you will find the thought surreptitiously crossing your mind.

If you are a lover of literary stuff, be warned that at first the form may throw you off a bit, but if you carry on, the content will get you. There are a lot of truths hidden away in this book, about movies, about society, about politicians, about relationships, if you would let them come to you and not look hard for them. Just remember here’s a movie man writing about life and films, and he’s going to tell his story the only way he knows — like one of his movies. But then, movies can sometimes tell you more about the history and people of their time than they are given credit for.
Jaideep Sahni has written scripts for many Hindi films, including Chak De! India and Aaja Nachle