The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic - and everything I've done in my life so far would not have been possible without my mother and her hotline to God on my behalf. So I'd like to say thank you to Mum and my late father who would serve as fine examples to gender-conscious, son-crazed, discriminatory parents everywhere.
Thank you Rosanna, sister, friend and my first editor on every word that I write.
Like all good Indians, especially Malayalis, I have a large extended family of siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews across the world. I'd like to thank each of them, especially my immediate family, for their encouragement and advice. But most of all, I'd like to thank my brother Thomas who seems to believe in me even more than I believe in myself. Thank you too to my 'awesome' nephew Matthew, budding editorial consultant and all-round 'dude.
My friend Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, a big hug for all the guidance and that perennial shoulder to cry on.
Ajay Mago of Om Books International, thank you for taking pride in your authors. My editor Dipa Chaudhuri, thank you for your affection for my manuscript, and for helping me crystallise my thoughts.
My fellow critics Arnab Banerjee, Namrata Joshi, Shubhra Gupta and Suparna Sharma, thank you for the support and friendship, and for forgiving me my long absence from our addas because of this book. Thank you Madhusudan Srinivas, the ever-resourceful and helpful Gautam Chintamani, and young Mihir Pandya who really must stop calling me Ma'am those addas are never the same without you. Thank you Bandeep Singh - you may not remember this, but you were the one who urged me to 'look beyond' that office desk.
Thank you Maneesha Dube for mentoring me without quite knowing it, Rohit Brijnath for being the best boss I've ever had, and my friend Amrith Lal for redefining feminism for me.
An additional thank you to Jaya, Suparna and Maneesha for your invaluable feedback on my manuscript.
Ranbir Kapoor, thank you for everything.
My lawyer Christine Chiramel, thank you for demystifying the intimidating maze of legalese.
All the wonderful people I've got to know through the online social media, I'm so grateful for your generosity and feedback.
When Anna first told me about this project, I was intrigued. The account of a year spent reviewing every single Hindi film released in the National Capital Region that would provide us with an overview of the industry...sounded like an ambitious and back-breaking exercise to me! But here we are now. The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic is complete and I believe it will be a significant addition to the sparse library of literature available on the Hindi film industry.
For the past decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of books being written about specific Hindi films and stars. As readers lap up such works, publishers have begun to sense the potential of this market and have been commissioning more such ventures. The genre most commonly being explored in this area is the biography, as I'm sure you have noticed. Fortunately or unfortunately for us actors, large sections of the public seem to be fascinated by the lives we lead, and are keen to know as much as they possibly can about us. It goes without saying that if so many reams of newsprint are devoted to our personal stories, then exhaustive memoirs would be popular too. Similarly, if a particular film has been a hit or has achieved the status of a classic, then it's evident that people would be keen on a detailed analysis of that film.
What's been more or less missing from our bookstores though is a look at the bigger picture, an evaluation of the history of Hindi cinema and an examination of the present state of the film industry. That's where The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic comes in, providing material with both humour and depth to the general public and especially to students of cinema in India and abroad.
I myself have gathered many interesting insights from my discussions with Anna about this book. As a member of the film industry, I have never hesitated to admit that I come from a position of privilege. Being the great grandson of the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor, the grandson of Raj Kapoor, the grand nephew of Shammi and Shashi Kapoor, the son of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, it's obvious that opportunities have come my way that would not be easily available to outsiders trying to make it in this industry. But the other side of the coin is that not every person from a film family necessarily succeeds in films. Lineage can get you a foot in the door, but it's entirely up to you to walk the right path and build a meaningful career for yourself.
our Whether you are from a film family or an outsider, what primarily distinguishes a successful star from others who had similar opportunities are the choices we make choice of scripts, choice of co-stars, choice of directors and production houses to work with.
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