SRK could never become a superstar unless he became every girl's fantasy lover

The sharply observed, addictively readable and serious content book by Anupama Chopra has a provocative title, 'King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan and The Seductive World of Indian Cinema.' Published by Warner Books, the 222 page hardbound book was launched at India Splendor (the six day event celebrating films, the heritage and culture of India) in Los Angeles and New York and is the first book on Hindi film to get an international release.

It spotlights the international phenomenon, the box office gold, Shahrukh Khan who generates Beatles/Presley hysteria across the world. It is a giddy explosion of anecdotes, cinema varities and remembrances, tartly affectionate and focuses the world's attention on the power of the cinema idol. In this case Shahrukh Khan in the exploding $1.5 billion Bollywood industry is the face of a glittering, incredible India. This is the man who has launched films that are celebrated in Greece, Indonesia, Peru, Ethiopia, Hamburg, UK, US and Switzerland.

The book traces the life and times of a middle class Muslim boy from Delhi who later became a rage in the second most populated country. But it is not only a biography but a pitch perfect narrative of the turbulent history of the Partition, the mohalla in Peshawar where Khan's father was born, the euphoria of Indian independence, Mumbai the mecca of producers, actors, musicians, writers and poets, the disillusionment of the 1960s and the entrepreneur in a Silicon valley environment. The book took four years to complete as Chopra followed Khan everywhere, emailing and SMSed him all over the world.

The book begins with an anecdote. If a thirty three year old, portly Bhavesh Sheth of small town Dalton, Georgia, a father of a toddler could dream of dancing with Shahrukh Khan onstage and have his dream come true, the reader can easily accept the fact that weekly 7,000 people in South Korea gather at a club to watch Bollywood films, subtitle them in Korean, and run Bollywood dance classes. Back in India, when Shahrukh flicks cigarette butts, people pick them up as souvenirs.

Crafting each film and he has made fifty of them, Shahrukh Khan has established himself as a legend and plays each role in his distinctive style putting his indelible stamp on every performance. Anupama Chopra ignites the charisma of the screen idol by making him an accessible figure- a dynamic original, a synthesis of ebullient cultures(he married a Hindu) deeply emotional but a down to earth image of a man filled with potent talent and fusing the world of fantasy and make believe with raw experience. The combination is irresistible.

Chopra tells us of SRK's dreams of becoming an army officer, his agonizing courting of Gouri who later became his wife, his ambitions of becoming a talk-show host like Oprah Winfrey and how death made him a star. The stories tumble one after another on the pages, his cocky confidence, his conversations with the powerful dons, his fascination with books, the intrigues and conspiracies in the hierarchy of Bollywood, the big budget spectacles, the chamchas, the scalpers, they are all there. Anupama Chopra also writes in an exhilarating articulate manner of the 20 million Indians in the world, who have discovered Hindi films to be more than entertainment.

"They were a way to bind the community," she writes, "to maintain an emotional chord with the distant motherland, and buy inexpensively a dose of Indian culture for second generation children who were growing up as hyphenated hybrids."

The narrative crackles with dialogue, quotes, gossip, revelations, heartbreak, romance drama and the marketing of Shahrukh Khan. As Anupama Chopra writes, it was Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra's son who told Shahrukh Khan that though he was a star, he could never become a superstar unless he became every girl's fantasy lover, every sister's brother, and every mother's son. "And of course Shahrukh became the superstar.

They are all great stories, enthralling, funny, moving and like Shahrukh Khan's movies the book too should be a sold out event anywhere in the world. Anupama Chopra comes from a literary/ cinema family. An gifted film critic and journalist she has written about the Indian film industry since 1993 and for publications as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety and India Today. She received an MA in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism in Northwestern University and has a BA in Literature from Bombay University.

She has authored 'Sholay- the making of a Classic', which won a National Award in India as best book on cinema. This was followed by an analysis of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge published by the British Film Institute. She presently reviews films weekly on NDTV. Her husband is the famed Vidhu Vinod Chopra of Munnabhai and Eklavya fame while brother Vikram Chandra is the well known author of Sacred Games.

Sister Tanuja Chandra (Sur, Zindaggi Rocks) is one of the few women directors in Bollywood. I met Anupama Chopra at a panel discussion/book reading in Los Angeles at the 6 day event India Splendor, hosted by MC Global Trust in association with UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, Artwallah, and ICM. I asked her how in the world of petty jealousies, arguments, extortion, murder, corruption, jail sentences, Shahukh Khan reigns. She replied simply, "He is compelling, the Bollywood dream. He is deified and at the same time grounded even while he is venerated and serenaded around the world."

When I asked if it was not too early to write a book about him Anupama Chopra merely smiled and said, "This is a good time when India is the buzzword and world attention is on everything pertaining to India. He is an international icon."

Source: IndiaPostNewsService-LosAngeles