Well-known film journalist Avijit Ghosh’s book on the Hindi film industry of the 1980s is out. Tracing the many lives of ’80s’ Bombay Cinema and imaginatively titled When Ardh Satya Met Himmatwala, the book is insightful and has been written after a lot of research. Not surprising because even Ghosh’s articles on films and film people as also his obituaries of film celebrities are always excellently researched.
It’s no wonder then that veteran Mahesh Bhatt has summed up his feelings about the book thus: “It you love Hindi cinema, you will love this book.”
Just to give one an idea of what the book deals with, here’s what the back cover says:
“The 1980s. In Hindi cinema, it was the decade of the dark and powerful police drama Ardh Satya. It was the decade of the kitschy excess of the action comedy Himmatwala. It was a decade of opposites.
“It was a time when the best of New Wave 2.0 won acclaim and awards across the globe, and B-grade ‘sex films’ drew crowds into rundown small-town theatres; when ridiculous lyrics set to ‘disco music’ created massive chartbusters; and the poetry of Kabir, Tulsidas and Faiz also found space in film songs.
“It was a time when Amitabh Bachchan’s injury had all of India praying for a miracle; when Jeetendra was spending more time shooting in Madras than in Bombay; when Rekha ruled but Sridevi too rose to superstardom; when Naseer, Shabana, Om and Smita were the Fab Four of arthouse cinema; when the flamboyant dancing stars Mithun and Govinda brought a whole new aesthetic to Bollywood; when North and South met and mated like never before.
“It was a time of furious change beyond the silver screen, too; video cassettes brought cinema to drawing rooms and bedrooms; television and one-day cricket emerged as fierce competition to films; piracy put movie theatres in crisis.
“In this thoroughly researched and entertaining book, Avijit Ghosh, author of the acclaimed best-sellers Cinema Bhojpuri and 40 Retakes, narrates the fascinating story of perhaps the most eventful, disruptive and transformative decade of Hindi cinema.”
The paperback edition is available on Amazon at Rs. 498. The Kindle edition is priced at Rs. 471.45.