Böcker av Nabendu Ghosh

DescriptionAshok Kumar (1911-2001), fondly known as Dadamoni, is one of the great icons ofHindi cinema. This warm, intimate biography traces his remarkable journey, fromreluctant actor to Bollywood's first superstar and, in his later years, a much-lovedpresence on national television.Born in Bhagalpur (then in the Bengal Presidency), Ashok Kumar was enthralled bythe 'bioscope' as a child. In his twenties, he quit his law studies and came to Bombayto become a film director. But life-rather, Himanshu Rai, the founder of BombayTalkies-had different plans for him. Despite the director's reservations, he was castin the lead role opposite Devika Rani in the 1936 film Jeevan Naiyya when the originalhero went missing. The same year, Ashok Kumar was paired with Devika Rani againin Achhut Kanya, which was a blockbuster. The transformation of the accidentalhero into a charismatic star-actor had begun. Over the next six decades, he provedhimself to be a master of the craft, playing cop and thief; genial grandfather and slymatchmaker; villain and hero; heartbroken lover and suave rake with equal ease innumerous films, including Kismet, Mahal, Parineeta, Kanoon, Gumrah, Chalti Ka NaamGaadi, Aashirwad, Mamta, Jewel Thief, Khoobsurat and Khatta Meetha. But as NabenduGhosh writes, Ashok Kumar's world was much larger-he was also a charmingconversationalist, mentor, homeopath, astrologer, painter, linguist, limericist and, above all, loyal friend and devoted husband and father. This book is also a mini-historyof the early decades of Bombay's Hindustani cinema, and its pages are rich withlittle anecdotes featuring legends like-besides Devika Rani-Saadat Hasan Manto, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Leela Chitnis, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Meena Kumari andB.R. Chopra. Sarojini Naidu and Jawaharlal Nehru make brief appearances too, asdoes Morarji Desai.For anyone interested in Hindi cinema of yesteryears-in its cosmopolitanism, camaraderie and charm-this thoroughly engaging book is a must read.

Ashok Kumar (1911-2001), fondly known as Dadamoni, is one of the great icons of Hindi cinema. This warm, intimate biography traces his remarkable journey, from reluctant actor to Bollywood's first superstar and, in his later years, a much-loved presence on national television. Born in Bhagalpur (then in the Bengal Presidency), Ashok Kumar was enthralled by the 'bioscope' as a child. In his twenties, he quit his law studies and came to Bombay to become a film director. But life--rather, Himanshu Rai, the founder of Bombay Talkies--had different plans for him. Despite the director's reservations, he was cast in the lead role opposite Devika Rani in the 1936 film Jeevan Naiyya when the original hero went missing. The same year, Ashok Kumar was paired with Devika Rani again in Achhut Kanya, which was a blockbuster.

'Nabendu Ghosh's perfect characterisation enabled any director to shoot the film with ease. He had the rare ability to pen the pulse of a character.'-Dilip KumarIn this collection-ranging from stories of love found and lost to tales of the supernatural-Ghosh masterfully traces the inscrutable ways of the human heart. The reigning queen of Bombay cinema allows a younger leading man to fall in love with her to spite her husband. A schoolmaster's ravishing wife joins him in the small town where he works, inspires him to build a garden for her, and sets about wrecking his life. An impoverished student sits across a purdah from a nawab's begum; she dictates letters to her husband and, as the student takes down her words, he falls into forbidden love with the voice from across the screen. And an unbending priest from Noakhali finds all the principles of his life upended after Muslim rioters kidnap his daughter. Marked by psychological insight, keen observation and vivid prose, That Bird Called Happiness brings to readers the work of one of the greats-not only of Bengali literature but of the Indian literary canon.