Author : Choudhary Zia Imam
Publisher : HarperHindi
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 31,32 MB
Release : 2011-04-19
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9789350290552
The boy had the blessings of a fakir who would wander around in his village, singing songs. The boy would follow him around, singing after him. One day, the fakir picked him up and said: 'Son, the world shall take your name with love and reverence, people will aspire to become like you.' The boy grew up to be Mohammad Rafi. In this vivid biography, Zia Imam tells us things we never knew about the greatest playback singer India's Hindi film industry has ever had.
Author : Dilip Kumar
Publisher : Hay House, Inc
Page : 429 pages
File Size : 14,38 MB
Release : 2014-07-28
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9381398968
An authentic, heartfelt and compelling narrative – straight from the horse’s mouth – that reveals for the first time numerous unknown aspects of the life and times of one of the greatest legends of all time who stands out as a symbol of secular India. Dilip Kumar (born as Yousuf Khan), who began as a diffident novice in Hindi cinema in the early 1940s, went on to attain the pinnacle of stardom within a short time. He came up with spellbinding performances in one hit film after another – in his almost six-decade-long career – on the basis of his innovative capability, determination, hard work and never-say-die attitude. In this unique volume, Dilip Kumar traces his journey right from his birth to the present. In the process, he candidly recounts his interactions and relationships with a wide variety of people not only from his family and the film fraternity but also from other walks of life, including politicians. While seeking to set the record straight, as he feels that a lot of what has been written about him so far is ‘full of distortions and misinformation’, he narrates, in graphic detail, how he got married to Saira Banu, which reads like a fairy tale! Dilip Kumar relates, matter-of-factly, the event that changed his life: his meeting with Devika Rani, the boss of Bombay Talkies, when she offered him an acting job. His first film was Jwar Bhata (1944). He details how he had to learn everything from scratch and how he had to develop his own distinct histrionics and style, which would set him apart from his contemporaries. After that, he soon soared to great heights with movies such as Jugnu, Shaheed, Mela, Andaz, Deedar, Daag and Devdas. In these movies he played the tragedian with such intensity that his psyche was adversely affected. He consulted a British psychiatrist, who advised him to switch over to comedy. The result was spectacular performances in laugh riots such as Azaad and Kohinoor, apart from a scintillating portrayal as a gritty tonga driver in Naya Daur. After a five-year break he started his ‘second innings’ with Kranti (1981), after which he appeared in a series of hits such as Vidhaata, Shakti, Mashaal, Karma, Saudagar and Qila.
Author : Ki. Rajanarayanan
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 27,4 MB
Release : 2020-12-22
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 939032789X
A unique anthology of short stories from the 'Karisal' or 'Black Soil' region of Tamil Nadu. Edited by Ki. Rajanarayanan, one of the most acclaimed and influential writers in Tamil, these stories tell, with genuine affection and concern, of the lives of people living against the backdrop of the black soil land. Here the rain plays hide-and-seek, sometimes oppressing them with drought, sometimes with floods; caste and religion still form a large part of the social order; cattle and moneylenders decide the fate of populations; and local gods are a very real presence. Written by celebrated contemporary Tamil authors in a range of literary styles, these are stories that will resonate universally long after they are read.
Author : T.M. Krishna
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 29,53 MB
Release : 2013-12-26
Category : Music
ISBN : 9350298228
One of the foremost Karnatik vocalists today, T.M. Krishna writes lucidly and passionately about the form, its history, its problems and where it stands todayT.M. Krishna begins his sweeping exploration of the tradition of Karnatik music with a fundamental question: what is music? Taking nothing for granted and addressing readers from across the spectrum - musicians, musicologists as well as laypeople - Krishna provides a path-breaking overview of south Indian classical music.
Author : Suryakant Tripathi Nirala
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 14,39 MB
Release : 2018-03-05
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9352774965
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', the first modern Hindi poet of India, is all of sixteen and not conversant with the Khari Boli Hindi of the litterateurs yet when his father gets him married and sends him off to his in-laws' in Dalmau to fetch his bride. There he meets a strange man called Kulli Bhaat who claims descent from a family of bards and, despite his mother-in-law's reservations about Kulli's sexuality, Nirala finds himself drawn to Kulli. Then an influenza epidemic breaks out, claiming numerous lives, and Nirala's bereavement leaves him without mooring. Adrift on the boat of time, he seeks employment in various places but finds himself unable to stay away from Dalmau for long. Kulli, in the meanwhile, has taken a Muslim wife and become a champion of the untouchables. Set in pre-Independence India, A Life Misspent is as much the account of an unlikely friendship as it is a coming-of-age story. A memoir on the making of one of the greatest poets of all time.
Author : Raghu Rai
Publisher :
Page : 167 pages
File Size : 26,94 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Musicians
ISBN : 9788172239466
Raghu Rai, India`s best known photographer, first shot a series of memorable photo essays on the masters of Indian classical music for India Today magazine in the mid- 980s. Since then, he has ever stopped shooting them in concerts, in their homes, with their gurus, and in special locations. Rai profiles only thirteen masters the greatest of the great nayak musicians who went much beyond their gharanas and broke new ground with their approach to music. They include Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva, S. Balchander, Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Vilayat Khan, Bismillah Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Bhimsen Joshi. Eight of these masters have passed away, so these portraits in turn affectionate, intense, playful, and reverent will remain their definitive ones, a precious and unsurpassable record of Indian musical heritage. Only a true rasik like Rai could have taken these pictures, for they required someone who possessed not only an understanding of classical music but also complete humility. Both aspects are evident in the extraordinary images that follow. The book is accompanied by a perceptive text written by noted writer and music expert Ashok Vajpeyi, chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. His profiles of these musicians show what makes them great, alongside giving us remarkable snapshots of their lives, on and off the stage. A fonder photographic tribute to the custodians of Indian classical music could not have been possible. This is undoubtedly a collector`s edition.
Author : Aatish Taseer
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 40,45 MB
Release : 2010-03-04
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0141933038
A young man returns home to Delhi after several years abroad and resumes his place among the city's cosmopolitan elite - a world of fashion designers, media moguls and the idle rich. But everything around him has changed - new roads, new restaurants, new money, new crime - everything, that is, except for the people, who are the same, only maybe slightly worse. Then he meets Aakash, a charismatic and unpredictable young man on the make, who introduces him to the squalid underside of this sprawling city. Together they get drunk and work out, visit temples and a prostitute, and our narrator finds himself disturbingly attracted to Aakash's world. But when Aakash is arrested for murder, the two of them are suddenly swept up in a politically sensitive investigation that exposes the true corruption at the heart of this new and ruthless society. In a voice that is both cruel and tender, The Temple-goers brings to life the dazzling story of a city quietly burning with rage.
Author : Raju Korti
Publisher :
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 16,23 MB
Release : 2016
Category : Singers
ISBN : 9789385285165
Author : Jill MacDonald
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 13,89 MB
Release : 2016-09-20
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9789352640706
Legendary theatre activist Habib Tanvir and the artistic young Jill MacDonald met and fell in love in 1955, resulting in the birth of a daughter, Anna, in 1964. Over many years, they wrote letters to each other, after he left England to travel across Europe and Russia, and later when he returned to India to set up Naya Theatre. Stuffed into a small, battered writing case, his letters travelled around with Jill for more than fifty years. Here she tells their story, relating it to Mukti, the eldest of their three grandsons. Never before published, Habib's letters provide a unique insight into the heart and mind of a renowned and multi-talented artist at a seminal period of his life.
Author : Raju Bharatan
Publisher : Hay House, Inc
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 46,26 MB
Release : 2016-08-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9385827162
The definitive saga, at once riveting and revelatory – studded with rare nuggets of information and fascinating anecdotes – that sparkingly brings out the life and times of an internationally acclaimed incredibly versatile singer. Asha Bhosle – a Guinness world record holder plus recipient of the Padma Vibhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award – has held one and all spellbound for six decades now. Her voice, both fluid and flexible, has infused neo life into a variety of genres – from the melancholy melody to the rollicking rock-’n’-roll; from the soulful creation to the vibrant disco; from the romantic rhapsody to the rambunctious folk song; from the dainty ghazal to the boisterous qawwali; and from the pathos-filled rendition to the naughty-naugthy seductive number. The author – on the strength of his vast and varied exposure and experience – turns the focus on enthralling behind-the-scenes happenings that shaped the advance of this artiste with a remarkable range and a noteworthy body of work. ‘The world has no time for losers’ has remained Asha’s performing credo. This volume captures Asha Bhosle in her numberless shades. It is about how – in her silken rivalry with elder sister Lata Mangeshkar – she moved with panache from O. P. Nayyar to S. D. Burman to R. D. Burman. It is about how she served a galaxy of composers; about how, in the end, she reached the pinnacle all by herself. Against odds that would have driven any other woman into quitting. No quitter ever, Asha Bhosle, as the supernova supreme, just went on to underline the adage: ‘No power like woman power’. No more can you stay away from this marvel of a musical biography than you can stay away from the matchless musicality of Asha Bhosle. If she is one of a kind, so is this musical masterpiece capturing all the resonances and nuances going with her piquant persona. Here is a long-awaited career study shedding light on the twists and turns marking the starry-eyed world of Hindustani film music.
