Brajesh's Review : Sholay : The Making of a Classic

You aren't allowed to call yourself a Sholay fan if you haven't read Sholay : The Making of a Classic".

I re-read "Sholay : The Making of a Classic", on the day I was going to watch Sholay 3-D. Half of the book bracketed each side of the movie for me. There couldn't have been a better setting to relish this masterclass. If you are obsessed with Sholay, like half of my generation is, you SHOULD order this book today.

Even if you don't remember each dialogue of the movie, like most people watching the 3-D version had, the book still has so much of the inside story that it's a blockbuster in itself.

Anupama Chopra writes with the confidence of a Bollywood insider and recounts fantastic snippets. Here is a sample of a few :-
- The movie actually started as just a 5 line story by Salim-Javed which was purchased for 50,000 by the Sippy's.
- Amitabh's marriage and Jaya's pregnancy actually derailed the shoot by over six months.
- Danny refused Gabbar's role and Dharmendra wanted to do Thakur's role.
- The most fantastic story is about the first fortnight, post the release of Sholay and how the entire industry and movie critics wrote-off the movie as a flop. The Sippy's were then being asked to do a salvage operation by re-shooting the ending or cutting it by 45 minutes. Like any master creator they didn't listen either to the critics or to the stupid box-office pandits. We must thank God for the unadulterated version, which then turned into the best movie ever made in the Hindi film industry.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Brajesh's Review: Kitnay Aadmi Thay?

This is a landmark book for me. This is the first time I have got an acknowledgement by the author and I can tell you, I felt awesome when I accidentally discovered the same.

Dipto is a dear friend, & I was eagerly looking forward to this book, after his previous one on Cricket - I pre-ordered the same :-). I must say the joy of discovering your name in print is an unmatched feeling, and in my case this has inspired me to do a book of my own :) Diptakirti Chaudhuri, I will hopefully reciprocate this acknowledgement one day.

Thank You Diptakirti Chaudhuri :) You are a gentleman and a friend I will treasure always.

Now back to the book content, being written by a friend I obviously have not rated the book, but any self-confessed bollywood fan MUST own this one. The book is constructed like a mosaic of trivia and that adds to the discovery and journey. What makes this book unique is it does not get caught in the clichéd lists and I must say the books gets better post intermission.

The second half has more commentary, the authors point of views on lists which are very hilarious and these make second half better.

Not Rated

Brajesh's Review: Cricket! All you Wanted to Know about the World Cup

Written by a dear friend from XLRI whom I have always admired for his perspective on films and a great sense of humor. While the book was for kids, I read it in one sitting and found many a great story I had no clue about.



Cricket! All You Wanted to Know About the World Cup