If you’re among the lucky ones to have born in India, it’s highly possible that you grew up slurping milk before the TV screen where some Bollywood hero threatened metaphorically to suck up dogs’ blood. Yes, point is, we Indians have a great appetite (and a big mouth) for anything Bollywood, and our discussions just won’t end without referring to a specific part/person from a specific film. With movies making up the majority of our daily trends, a book based on completely useless Bollywood trivia was sure to cross the lane. And being one of the ‘first day first show’ kinds, I had to get my hands on it as soon as it surfaced.
Kitnay Aadmi Thay? has covered the infectious Bollywood from the era of 1950s to the very present, and boasts of quite a detailed account of 50 lists and 500 entries of amusing trivia. The very first chapter on ‘opening credits’ will have you engaged to the very end. The book is so well plotted that you feel like you are leafing through a winning blockbuster- jisme action, romance, comedy, thrill sab hai! The book floats over subjects like stereotyping the relations in Bollywood, films that should never have been made, movies that were named after songs from other movies, the Amul hoardings that greeted and cheered B’wood films, and the list flows on. The footnotes just add to the delight.
The writing style of the author Diptakirti Chaudhuri has won me over, and the beautiful cover showing Amjad Khan, Shammi Kapoor, SrBachchan and others just add to the hype. The diligent research is so humorously dealt with that at times you just can’t control the abrupt splashes of laughter. Totally recommended for those who’d like to add a dash of filmy to their otherwise normal lives.
You may order your copy from Flipkart here: 
[highlight]Overall rating: 4/5[/highlight]
If you’re among the lucky ones to have born in India, it’s highly possible that you grew up slurping milk before the TV screen where some Bollywood hero threatened metaphorically to suck up dogs’ blood. Yes, point is, we Indians have a great appetite (and a big mouth) for anything Bollywood, and our discussions just won’t end without referring to a specific part/person from a specific film. With movies making up the majority of our daily trends, a book based on completely useless Bollywood trivia was sure to cross the lane. And being one of the ‘first day first show’ kinds, I had to get my hands on it as soon as it surfaced.
Kitnay Aadmi Thay? has covered the infectious Bollywood from the era of 1950s to the very present, and boasts of quite a detailed account of 50 lists and 500 entries of amusing trivia. The very first chapter on ‘opening credits’ will have you engaged to the very end. The book is so well plotted that you feel like you are leafing through a winning blockbuster- jisme action, romance, comedy, thrill sab hai! The book floats over subjects like stereotyping the relations in Bollywood, films that should never have been made, movies that were named after songs from other movies, the Amul hoardings that greeted and cheered B’wood films, and the list flows on. The footnotes just add to the delight.
The writing style of the author Diptakirti Chaudhuri has won me over, and the beautiful cover showing Amjad Khan, Shammi Kapoor, SrBachchan and others just add to the hype. The diligent research is so humorously dealt with that at times you just can’t control the abrupt splashes of laughter. Totally recommended for those who’d like to add a dash of filmy to their otherwise normal lives.
You may order your copy from Flipkart here:
[highlight]Overall rating: 4/5[/highlight]