BOOKING THE SHOW

Recent books about Hindi cinema

DADAMONI: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ASHOK KUMAR

BY NABENDU GHOSH SPEAKING TIGER `499;

232 pages

A revised edition of a precious book, and a rare instance of one notable personality (screenwriter Ghosh) paying tribute to another (Hindi cinema’s first male superstar). Warm and personal, but also analytical.

BULLETS OVER BOMBAY: SATYA AND THE HINDI FILM GANGSTER

BY UDAY BHATIA

HARPERCOLLINS INDIA `399; 260 pages

The best of many recent books about specific films, this is a study of Ram Gopal Varma’s iconic 1998

Satya—as a gangster movie, a Bombay movie and a story about outsiders and friendships.

JUBILEE KUMAR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A SUPERSTAR

BY SEEMA SONIK ALIMCHAND HACHETTE INDIA `599; 312 pages

Another authorised biography of a star who was once enormously popular but is a distant figure to modern audiences—Rajendra Kumar, one of Hindi cinema’s biggest box-office draws in the 1960s.