Of the Entertaining Eighties  

Express News Service

If the 1980s are a forgotten era in the minds of cinema-goers, Avijit Ghosh brings them back to memory in intricate detail. The book delves into the decade to include every significant, and not so significant, 
movie released through the years, to discuss the growing influence of television that feeds on 
the movie business like a parasite, and to present to readers a history of the social milieu of the time 
as reflected in the movies.

It’s obvious a lot of research forms the foundation of this book. A three-page bibliography and a list of interviewees at the end bears witness to the hours spent before the author started work on his keyboard. The results include a detailing of trends like film magazines shifting to TV stars as cover material, shrinking advertising for film glossies, the modus operandi of pirating films that again dealt a fatal blow to cinema houses, the entire video watching phase, wherein people sat in darkened sheds to watch a film on 
a small screen through video cassettes, and so on. The growth of film societies and the rise and fall of the ‘new wave cinema’ are other aspects that throw the decade into focus.

There are quite a few books now being written that chronicle trends in cinema under different heads. But unlike many of them, which are mere listings with an anecdote or two thrown in like croutons in a tasteless soup, Ghosh entertains as he educates. His prose sparkles with surprise metaphors and similes. So you have teenagers chasing Kumar Gaurav after the release of Love Story, ‘as if he was the last mango of the season’. On Raj Babbar, Ghosh writes, ‘like a perfectly kneaded dough, he rose to the occasion every time’.  And he describes a queue outside a hall screening a hit film as ‘longer than a goods train’.

The book examines the work of directors who ruled the decade––Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza, Shyam Benegal––and goes on to list the accomplishments of ‘movers and shakers’ such as Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Mithun, Rekha, Govinda and Kader Khan. By adding the last name to the A-list, Ghosh credits the actor, known mostly for his double-meaning dialogues on screen, as someone who wrote dialogues for significant films such as Himmatwala, Coolie, Namak Halaal and Ram Lakhan.

Bhanu Athaiya and Saroj Khan also get their due in one of the chapters, which is followed by another that talks about the duller-than-before lives of stars of the calibre of Dharmendra and Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman, all of whom managed just about surviving the onslaught of the ‘angry young man’ phenomenon.

Star sons, directors who made the decade’s significant films, lyricists, singers trying to step into the space created by the death of Muhammad Rafi, and the music directors of the decade fill the rest of the pages.
In brief, When Ardh Satya Met Himmatwala is a valuable book for researchers, an interesting read for lay person and hopefully, a precursor to more books by Ghosh on decades before and after the entertaining Eighties.

When Ardha Satya met Himmatwala: The Many Lives of 1980s’ Bombay Cinema
By: Avijit Ghosh
Publisher: Speaking Tiger
Pages: 376
Price: Rs 599

<br /> If the 1980s are a forgotten era in the minds of cinema-goers, Avijit Ghosh brings them back to memory in intricate detail. The book delves into the decade to include every significant, and not so significant, <br /> movie released through the years, to discuss the growing influence of television that feeds on <br /> the movie business like a parasite, and to present to readers a history of the social milieu of the time <br /> as reflected in the movies.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>It’s obvious a lot of research forms the foundation of this book. A three-page bibliography and a list of interviewees at the end bears witness to the hours spent before the author started work on his keyboard. The results include a detailing of trends like film magazines shifting to TV stars as cover material, shrinking advertising for film glossies, the modus operandi of pirating films that again dealt a fatal blow to cinema houses, the entire video watching phase, wherein people sat in darkened sheds to watch a film on <br /> a small screen through video cassettes, and so on. The growth of film societies and the rise and fall of the ‘new wave cinema’ are other aspects that throw the decade into focus.</p> <p>There are quite a few books now being written that chronicle trends in cinema under different heads. But unlike many of them, which are mere listings with an anecdote or two thrown in like croutons in a tasteless soup, Ghosh entertains as he educates. His prose sparkles with surprise metaphors and similes. So you have teenagers chasing Kumar Gaurav after the release of Love Story, ‘as if he was the last mango of the season’. On Raj Babbar, Ghosh writes, ‘like a perfectly kneaded dough, he rose to the occasion every time’.  And he describes a queue outside a hall screening a hit film as ‘longer than a goods train’.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <p>The book examines the work of directors who ruled the decade––Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza, Shyam Benegal––and goes on to list the accomplishments of ‘movers and shakers’ such as Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Mithun, Rekha, Govinda and Kader Khan. By adding the last name to the A-list, Ghosh credits the actor, known mostly for his double-meaning dialogues on screen, as someone who wrote dialogues for significant films such as Himmatwala, Coolie, Namak Halaal and Ram Lakhan.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Bhanu Athaiya and Saroj Khan also get their due in one of the chapters, which is followed by another that talks about the duller-than-before lives of stars of the calibre of Dharmendra and Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman, all of whom managed just about surviving the onslaught of the ‘angry young man’ phenomenon.</p> <p>Star sons, directors who made the decade’s significant films, lyricists, singers trying to step into the space created by the death of Muhammad Rafi, and the music directors of the decade fill the rest of the pages.<br /> In brief, When Ardh Satya Met Himmatwala is a valuable book for researchers, an interesting read for lay person and hopefully, a precursor to more books by Ghosh on decades before and after the entertaining Eighties.</p> <p>When Ardha Satya met Himmatwala: The Many Lives of 1980s’ Bombay Cinema<br /> By: Avijit Ghosh<br /> Publisher: Speaking Tiger<br /> Pages: 376<br /> Price: Rs 599<br />