Romancing with Life

Few actors in Hindi cinema have had Rishi Kapoor's sort of a career arc: from the gawky adolescent pining for his schoolteacher ( Mera Naam Joker, 1970) to the naughty 90-year-old ( Kapoor & Sons, 2016), Rishi Kapoor has regaled audiences for close to 50 years. He won a National Award for his debut, became an overnight sensation with his first film as a leading man ( Bobby, 1973), and carved a niche for himself with a string of romantic musical blockbusters.

Madhubala - the very name conjures up vivid images of a love goddess possessing bewitching beauty, dazzling radiance, subtle sensuality and, above all, a tantalizing screen presence. Her ‘reel life’ histrionic performances held (and continue to hold) audiences/viewers entranced. Her talent was phenomenal, and she could literally glide through a movie, whatever be the role. She could convey an impressive array of emotions with her eloquent eyes and facial expressions without resorting to melodramatic contortions. 

Karan Johar is synonymous with success, panache, quick wit, and outspokenness, which sometimes inadvertently creates controversy and makes headlines. KJo, as he is popularly called, has been a much-loved Bollywood film director, producer, actor, and discoverer of new talent. But who is the man behind the icon we all know? Honest, heart-warming and insightful, An Unsuitable Boy is both the story of the life of an exceptional filmmaker at the peak of his powers and of an equally extraordinary human being who shows you how to survive and succeed in life. 

When P.V. Narasimha Rao became the unlikely prime minister of India in 1991, he inherited a nation adrift, violent insurgencies, and economic crisis. Despite being unloved by his people, mistrusted by his party, and ruling under the shadow of 10 Janpath, Rao transformed the economy and ushered India into the global arena. With exclusive access to Rao’s never-before-seen personal papers and diaries, this definitive biography provides new revelations on the Indian economy, nuclear program, and foreign policy and the Babri Masjid.

In the early 20th century, young Ganga Bhishan Agarwal, aka Haldiram, gained a reputation for making the best bhujia in town. Fast-forward a century and the Haldiram’s empire has a revenue much greater than that of McDonald’s and Domino’s combined. In Bhujia Barons, Pavitra Kumar manages to tell the riveting story of the Agarwal family in its entirety - a feat never managed before. It begins in dusty, benign Bikaner and traces the rise and rise of this homegrown brand which is one of the most recognized Indian brands in the world.  

A young girl was forced to marry a widower of her father's age, who has three sons from his former wife. The plot unfolds to reveal her husband’s suspicion of a relationship between her and his eldest stepson, a suspicion that leads to the death of many family members and destroys the family. 

Once upon a time a girl said, ‘In India, real people don’t become movie stars’. The same girl became the biggest crossover star. That very girl can’t walk around in New York City now ‘without being mobbed’. That’s Priyanka Chopra for you. The quintessential ‘Girl Uninterrupted’. She came from a small-town middle-class family in North India. During the Miss India contest, she was grilled by none other than Shah Rukh Khan. She prevailed and won the hearts of millions.  

Night Train at Deoli is a collection of stories, most of which are set in the valleys of Uttarakhand, a place where the author himself grew up. The stories revolve around the lives of simple folk who live a serene life away from the hustle bustle of cities. These simple and heartwarming stories are sure to hit a chord and bring smiles to the faces of listeners.

In this memoir, narrated in Karan Thapar's trademark incisive style, the author relates different stories from his life, from personal anecdotes about his childhood, college days and marriage to his encounters with various well-known personalities in the course of anchoring his TV shows. Find out about Karan Thapar's friendship in university and later with Benazir Bhutto; his short-lived yet memorable stint as a foreign correspondent with The Times under the tutelage of Charles Douglas-Home; his entry into news television; and more.

As the world once again confronts an eruption of authoritarianism, Gyan Prakash's Emergency Chronicles takes us back to the moment of India's independence to offer a comprehensive historical account of Indira Gandhi's Emergency of 1975-77. Stripping away the myth that this was a sudden event brought on solely by the prime minister's desire to cling to power, it argues that the Emergency was as much Indira's doing as it was the product of Indian democracy's troubled relationship with popular politics, and a turning point in its history.

Who really is A.R. Rahman? We know the music. But do we know the man? For the first time, a nation's pride - winner of National Film awards, Oscars, Grammys and hearts - opens up about his philosophies: hope, perseverance, positivity and love. From his early days as a composer of advertisement jingles to his first big break in feature films, from his keenness to integrate new technology with good old-fashioned music scores to the founding of his music school, from his resounding entry on to the international stage to his directorial debut....

Mustaq Ahmed Yusufi Urdu ke jaane-maane lekhak the, jinki vyang rachnaayein apna ek alag sthaan rakhti hai. 1990 mein likhe unke upanyaas aabe-gum ka yeh Hindi anuvaad hai. Tufail Chaturvedi ne iska anuvaad aisi sehaj bhasha mein kiya hai ki padhte hue lagta hai maano yeh hindi ki hee moolkriti ho. 

Vipassana sabse kimti dhyan hai. Iski vidhi hai, sirph baithkar shvas ko dekhte rahna. Yah pranayam nahi hai, shvas ki naisargik gati ko sakshibhav se dekhna hi vipassana hai. Is tarh dekht-dekhte hi chitt ke sare rog tirohit ho jate hai, sharir se sambandh tut jata hai. Ise aharnish kahi bhi kiya ja sakta hai.

In an essay in this anthology, Khushwant Singh claims that he is not a nice man to know. Whatever the truth of that assertion, there is little question about his skill as a witty, eloquent, and entertaining writer. This book collects the best of over three decades of the author’s prose - including his finest journalistic pieces, short stories, translations, jokes, plays, as well as excerpts from his nonfiction books and novels. 

The Dramatic Decade focuses on one of the most fascinating periods in the life of this nation, the decade of the 1970s. This was when India found herself engaging with the true meaning of democracy. Drawing from personal diary extracts, conversations with key players of the 1970s, and vital secondary literature, Pranab Mukherjee presents an exceptional portrait of a complex nation.