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First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches
Reviewed by Rachna Singh BOLLYWOOD is a national obsession, more so than cricket and corruption. More than film-making per se, it encompasses within its ambit shenanigans of actors, directors, singers and of course the rumor-rife ubiquitous cine awards. Anupama Chopra’s First Day First Show taps this Indian desire for a peek into the life and times of Bollywood stars. Chopra cobbles together various articles authored by her for India Today, NDTV24x7 and The New York Times and in the process gives the reader quick view snapshots of Bollywood from 1993 to 2010. She also delves into her books Sholay: The Making of a Classic and King of Bollywood. Sharukh Khan’s quirky "Foreword" adds the necessary starry glitter. Khan’s unequivocal declaration, "It will be a ride. It will be a true representation of what a Hindi film is", raises high expectations.
The music industry flourished on stock music rather than creativity and the death of the audio king Gulshan Kumar spelt the end of ostentation in the film industry. The late 90s saw a paradigm shift which saw the emergence of stars that appealed to the urban populace. Sharukh Khan with his Hilfigers, artfully mussed up hair and dimpled smile became the urban icon with Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and DDLJ. The maniac intensity of Bazigar, Darr and Anjaam did nothing to dent the image of the uber cool romantic hero. Aamir Khan with his mustard yellow pants and the tapori act in Rangeela also made the cash registers ring. With the end of the 90s, Karan Johar’s "Designer sagas" hit big time. But fortunately, there was room for varied genres like the road movie Jab We Met, the angst ridden Dev D with its contemporary Devdas twist, the Forrest Gump-like My Name is Khan and the Chulbul Pandey-starrer Dabangg. All in all, Chopra’s book is an enjoyable read for a relaxed Sunday afternoon. It has enough mirch-masala of the Bollywood kind to keep the reader glued. It also has some serious insights into the life of glitz and glamour which nevertheless has an unsavory underside. The underworld connections add an unusual twist in the manner of a typical potboiler of the Satya and Company genre. But read on, kyunki "picture abhi baaki hai mere dost".
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The
"Prologue" describes the run up to the launch of Ramesh Sippy’s
Sholay. The fine detailing of the initial wary and cautious
response to Sholay and its slow but sure march towards
blockbuster status is interesting to say in the least. Like a typical
Hindi film, "Prologue" "mein emotion hai tragedy hai",
and the reader is hooked. The articles that follow trace the evolution
of Bollywood through the slapstick Aankhen to the sensual
rendering of "Choli ke peeche" of Khalnayak to
the zany Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Chopra in her more serious
articles also dwells upon the plagiarism of scriptwriters who with
panache borrowed from Hollywood and thought nothing of it. 