'King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema'

Here is the astonishing true story of Bollywood, a sweeping portrait about a country finding its identity, a movie industry that changed the face of India, and one man's struggle to become a star. Shah Rukh Khan's larger than life tale takes us through the colorful and idiosyncratic Bollywood movie industry, where fantastic dreams and outrageous obsessions share the spotlight with extortion, murder, and corruption.

Internationally renowned film critic Anupama Chopra combines her knowledge of the Bollywood industry with firsthand interviews and exclusive photographs for an exclusive, insider's look at Shah Rukh Khan and the world of Bollywood.

Shah Rukh Khan broke into this $1.5 billion business despite the fact that it has always been controlled by a handful of legendary film families and sometimes funded by black market money. As a Muslim in a Hindu majority nation, exulting in classic Indian cultural values, Shah Rukh Khan has come to embody the aspirations and contradictions of a complicated culture tumbling headlong into American style capitalism. His story is the mirror to view the greater Indian story and the underbelly of the culture of Bollywood.

One of the strengths of King of Bollywood is the way Anupama Chopra casually slips in paragraphs of analysis as she tells the story of Shah Rukh's ascent. Though this is a book aimed at a popular audience, she manages to make many of the points an academic film historian might make — with a much lighter touch. Chopra's writing style is simple, informative, engrossing and at no point of time she tries hard to grab attention. It just flows.

People may know Anupama Chopra from her various articles in the New York Times and other papers. For one thing, she's director Vidhu Vinod Chopra's wife. Chopra has also written two earlier books on Bollywood-related themes, including a full-length study of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and another on Sholay. But King of Bollywood is different, in that it's getting released on a major commercial press; the DDLJ book was on a British academic press, while the Sholay book was on Penguin India.

In such a schizophrenic society, the persona of Shah Rukh Khan - a guy who wears DKNY but obeys the parents; who sings in Manhattan but muses on Punjab; a heterosexual who could be a homosexual; a seductive dancer who never lip-kisses a heroine; a Muslim believer with a Hindu wife; a hearty heartthrob who never traveled to the West till 28 but gifted a gushing fan with a round-trip ticket to any destination in the world; a go-getter who became everything from nothing - is truly an icon of our times.

This is a must read books for all those Bollywood lovers and SRK's worshippers. The Marathi Translation by Aruna Antarkar from Ameya Prakashan is like a cheery on the cake. Grab your copy now and explore some known and hidden facts of the most fascinating industry of the country.

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