[tps_footer]After her first runaway success with Westland, My Life, My Rules: 18 Stories of Unconventional Careers, entrepreneur and writer, Sonia Golani is gearing up for yet another best-seller. Titled Decoding Bollywood: Stories of 15 Film Directors, the book is first of its kind in unraveling the genius of 15 masterclass directors who have created remarkable benchmarks with their films.
“My attempt is to delve into the professional and personal journeys of these film-makers… unravel their minds… explore their creative world; their insights and learning’s of the business; Bollywood’s elusive quest for the Oscars; the use of marketing blitzkrieg for a film’s success, professional ethics and so on”, says Sonia Golani.
From Anurag Basu’s memory of his father’s advice when he wanted to make a career in dramatics — ‘natak mein “na atak” (Don’t get stuck in theatre),’; to Ashutosh Gowariker jocularly recounting his transition from an actor to world-renowned director, “There was no fee. I was willing to bring home-cooked food to the set. So thankfully, I didn’t have to pay the guys to give me a break!’; to the intense and passionate Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra on his incomparable commitment to film making “…I won’t flinch even for a moment if the need arises to liquidate my property, to be able to do the work I enjoy doing in my present” – the book showcases some of the deepest and most inspiring stories from Bollywood.
Decoding Bollywood also lifts the sheets from some of the most intriguing aspects in the film industry — the exclusive “100 crore club”; the scions of films families; the significance of the Oscars and the future of Hindi cinema. With Decoding, Sonia has achieved the unimaginable and that is in being able to sit each of these 15 directors to candidly focus on what makes them larger than life!
“It’s fascinating. It’s engrossing! It’s eminently readable! And most importantly, it’s built on truth. Truth about the world of Bollywood, that is enveloped in myth, hyperbole, fiction and fantasy”, said Farah Khan, at the launch of the book function that was held in Mumbai recently.[/tps_footer]
