Customer Reviews

Bollywood Nights

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the story of Aasha Rani, Bollywood film star and "Sweetheart of Millions," her scramble up out of poverty and obscurity to the heights of fame, and her inevitable fall from glory. The novel consists largely of detailed fashion and cosmetic description; characters jetting between countries; catfights; bed-hopping; starlets seeking fame; and other staples of the entertainment-industry genre. Aasha Rani is characterized a bit inconsistently, with the author making her at turns a giggly ingenue, oblivious exploitee, sly schemer, Woman Scorned, bitter man-hater, moony man-worshiper, material girl, and occasional philosopher--not necessarily in that order!

This book was originally published in 1992, and, despite its 2007 trade paperback format with the new cover art and design and the publishers' obvious attempts to cash in on the West's recent renewed interest in all things India, editors do not appear to have touched the text since, well, 1992. (Actually, editors may never have touched it; several passages of dialogue are hindered by a failure to indent paragraphs for new speakers). One character talks on a white cordless phone (that's evidence enough), but cell phones, personal computers, and the internet are all MIA. Clothing styles and references to a burgeoning "home video" industry also skew towards the late 80's/early 90's. In a way, however, this is a somewhat refreshing change of pace, and it only points out how shameless exploitation and ladder-climbing have existed at all times, in all societies; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this book is as accurate about today's Bollywood industry as it was when it was first written.

The back copy tries to sell this as a romance with a hero, Akshay. It is nothing of the kind. Every character has numerous affairs, but no central relationship (for that matter, no functioning relationship at all) emerges. The novel contains English, Hindi, and Tamil profanity, and a plethora of sexual situations, some of which are quite amusing (although, like the book itself, rather unkind to men in general).

Probably not worth the trade paperback price, but a colorful, juicy read that never tries to pretend it's anything different. The author is having fun and invites you to share it with her.

Having grown up watching Bollywood movies and following the Bollywood gossip, this book lets the reader draw possible comparisons between the real life stars and the characters in the book. Just when you think you have figured out who the author is trying to draw comparisons to , she starts giving the character a different personality.

I decided to read this book because I knew it was a semi-fictional work coming from a true insider of Bollywood. After growing up thinking that nearly every actress in the industry was as much a virgin as my favorite onscreen characters, my dream world came crumbling down when I recently started to hear "truths" about the industry I had always adored. Madhuri Dixit slept her way to the top? Sushmita Sen is Anil Ambani's mistress? Preeti Zinta would sleep with anyone if the price was right? Shah Rukh Khan's seemingly story book marriage is actually a complete farce? And perhaps worst of all: Aishwaria had actually slept with Amitabh before marrying Abhishiek?!? How could these "lies" possibly be true?!?

De's book shows you exactly how it can all be true. Although she is clearly not talking about anyone I mentioned above (this book was written originally in 1991), De openly states that a lot of the scenerios were lifted from real stars. Personally, I think that the story resembles a lot of Sridevi's supposed life, at least until she married Boney Kapoor. And although I was revolted for most of it, I thought it was great how De paints the characters for the many colors they are--once you see how they got to be where they are, you can see how many complex factors played a part to get them to the state they were in.

A bubble of lies, deceit and corruption, shrouded in the external image of glamour and glitz. I think I finally understand the eternal quotation given by Bollywood people--"I hate this industry, but can't live without it".

After reading this book, I was speechless. By that time, actually, I was also wondering whether Shobha De's own marriage (with six kids!) is just as much a farce as every single one she portrays in the book.

I also would think that this book would only be good to people who are familiar with Bollywood and Hinglish (Hindi and English mixed)--otherwise, you'd probably be like 'what the heck is going on' for a lot of it!

Lastly, although I hated the end of the book, I have to give credit to De for making it realistic.

What a joyless book. Prepared for the glamour of Bollywood, instead, this novel shows you its trash.

Aasha Rani is a Bollywood heroine. Brought to the film world by her mother, she quickly discovers that to survive in Bollywood you must trade your body, if not your soul. While she does well as an actress and appears in many films it is not a very happy life.

The man she loves is married and while she is his mistress she can have no more than that. Others she sleeps with offer the same lack of emotional ties and give her nothing more than a fleeting memory of feeling good. Or they give her something she needs to advance her carrier or make her Amma (mother) happy. Her life is not really her own.

Finally breaking down when her lover Akshay no longer wants her and shuns her, she escapes to New Zealand. There she meets her husband and has a beautiful daughter, Sasha, before that life goes wrong as well. She drifts aimlessly to London, back to India, never really having true happiness or not being on the wrong side of the bed with most men.

I expected a great deal more from this book, but it seems the author is just bitter towards the whole idea of Bollywood. While it was mostly well written (I had some issues with grammar and having speaking from multiple characters in one paragraph) there was nothing of hope in this novel. De invites plenty of innovation to her writing, mixing Indian dialect slang with English, but fails to make her characters people you care about.

Indeed, I couldn't stand the main character at first, and just when she was getting marginally better, the book took a turn back to being horrible again. I understand that there is plenty of scandal in Bollywood, but with my preconceived notions of Indian women and the fact that I just wanted some happiness in the novel, this book was a huge let down. And its attitude towards men is very bitter. There was not one "good" man in the whole book. In fact, most of them screw over the main character at least once if not many times.

Overall not something I would read again. In fact, based on this novel, I will probably steer clear of the rest of De's novels.

Bollywood Nights
Copyright 1992
332 pages and Q&A Section

I am a huge fan of Indian fiction, Bollywood, the whole bit. I have nothing agains mindless fiction. I was excited to read Shobhaa De because I know she's huge in India, and I was curious to see what her insider's take on Bollywood would be. It turned out to have the scheming, abuse, and mindless opportunistic sex of a Sidney Sheldon novel without any of the suspense or excitement. I can't imagine a bigger waste of time.

I am a Bollywood fan so I jumped at the change to read this book. I wanted to like it, and was very disappointed. Although I expected this to be a "behind the scenes" and to see some things which are not so nice about the industry, I was not prepared for the (what to me) seemed a very biased story and a flat out attack on the Bollywood industry. The author didn't seem to have anything nice to say about it. She made it seem like for everyone in the industry it was a complete nightmare and drain on their lives. This was the first thing that seemed extremely unrealistic to me, because there was nothing about the people who pour their heart and soul into making beautiful movies. Nothing about the artistry behind it. Nothing good whatsoever, only extreme cynicism.

It also made all Bollywood female actresses out to be whores, sleeping with anyone who could get them a role and relying completely on sex appeal to be famous. While I can see how some of this certainly could be happening, it was so extreme in the book that it also felt unrealistic. The main character's mother is a former Bollywood star who's lost her youth, and so she pimps out her daughter to the industry. This is the story we are greeted with upon the very first page of the book, and never is any other viewpoint presented.

The main character complies meekly and without thought for most of the book. We get glimpses of the author's apparent feelings based on how things are described, but rarely does the main character ever have any emotion or thought for herself. She goes through all kinds of horrible things, and not until later in the book does she ever start to act like she has a mind of her own. By then it's too late. When she gets upset about how she was treated, you find it hard to believe her because it's like she wasn't mentally present for any of it. She later recants her anger, but you can't understand why because she never explains her feelings. She is very unlikable and immature and by the end I actually despised her.

Overall this book had almost no appeal to me and I hardly made it through to the end. I kept thinking "maybe it will get better" but when I finished it I realized I was wrong. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I actually really disliked the main character. And what I assume was supposed to be a look at the gritty underbelly of the Bollywood industry felt more like a piece of propaganda calling for the end of Bollywood entirely. The only reasons I give it two stars is because I did finish the book, and I believe this was translated from Hindi so I'm willing to allow that a lot of the original feeling of the book may be lost in translation.

...because I do believe that it's the only book I have ever finished and then deposited straight into the trash! Oh my word was this a depressing book! There was not one person in this book that had any redeeming qualities. And the author could not decide "who" the main character was supposed to be. She jumped all over the map. And just when you think just MAYBE she has learned some kind of lesson from her life experiences, she takes a turn for the worse again. She never learns anything really. She is not a sympathetic character at all. Maybe this is the real truth of Bollywood, but if it is, then I don't know if I will ever be able to look at the films I liked so much the same way again! I felt dirty just reading this, and sorely wished that I was the type that can just put a book down and not have to finish it, thinking the whole time "surely it will get better soon". Don't let the pretty cover fool you, there is NOTHING pretty in this book!

I thought this book was amazing.... for someone who doesn't like to read much (like me), this book was definitely a page turner! Very well written!

After a point, this book becomes monotonous. Nice style of writing by Shoba De, but somewhere after a point you feel like saying "No More".

This book is about Bollywood superstar Ashaa Rani, her trials, challenges and finally her successes. In the beginning I found her as a character annoying, spoiled and stuck-up. Towards the middle of the book you start to realize that she's changing and slowly maturing and the story really starts to develop there. All in all it was a decent read. Something different to have in your library.