BHAICHAND Patel, a self-confessed film buff, took it upon himself to put together a book titled Bollywood’s Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema. As its name suggests, the book highlights the 20 stars — of all time — that the editor deemed fit to wax lyrical about.

Now, you might think that it must have been an impossible task to choose a mere 20 from a galaxy of hundreds. Yet, Patel seems up to the task with a rationale that goes something like this: “The 20 stars we have chosen to honour are not necessarily the most talented... but they were... the most popular of the time.” The end result? A book that highlights the lives of K.L. Saigal, Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Nargis, Suraiya, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Shammi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Hema Malini, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor.

In the introduction, Patel does mention that he regrets not including several others. These are actors who were popular in the 1950s and 1960s and include Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Kumar and Guru Dutt. There is no mention of Rekha, however, who was possibly the only heroine to work in box

office hits even in her late 30s (her powerhouse performances in Silsila, Ghar, Umrao Jaan and Ijaazat need not be mentioned). Similarly, Sridevi has not made it to the list despite the fact that she was one of the first female actors to command as high a fee as her male counterparts and has countless outstanding films to her credit, such as Chandni and Lamhe. Bollywood’s Top 20 also overlooks Zeenat Aman, an actor who contributed in changing the perception of the ‘typical’ Indian film heroine.

Despite these glaring omissions, Bollywood’s Top 20 is an engrossing read for any film enthusiast for the perspectives it provides of the 20 actors it profiles. The most interesting pieces in the book, perhaps unsurprisingly, are those dedicated to the stars of yesteryears: Ashok Kumar, K.L. Saigal, Nargis and Madhubala. However, the problem with the first two is that while their lives are charted in great (and sometimes tedious) detail, they were not successful enough to justify being included. For instance, the piece on Ashok Kumar provides a detailed biography in terms of how he entered the film industry, yet does not quite explain what made him a legendary actor. It only says that two of his films, namely Mahal and Kismet, were roaring successes.

Similarly, while Vikram Sampath’s article on the legendary K.L. Saigal, titled “Music Maestro and Movie Legend,” provides enough proof of Saigal being a music maestro, it is unable to establish his movie legend status. This is something that Avijit Ghosh does manage to do in his article on Rajesh Khanna (“The God of Romance”).

One of the most fascinating pieces in the book is on Devika Rani, by Cary Rajinder Sawhney. It tells the story of the “Queen of Two Worlds” who was educated in “swinging 1920s London”, and came to Bollywood by way of her marriage to Himanshu Rai, the acclaimed Bengali actor-producer, when she was a mere teenager. Her life, according to Sawhney, was filled with extramarital affairs; she was held responsible for her husband’s untimely death but not only was she an acclaimed actor, but also successfully ran the well-known Bombay Talkies Studio which produced films such as Jawani ki Hawa, Jeevan Naiya, Achhut Kanya, Kismet, Jwar Bhata, Ziddi and Mahal that that are remembered today. (She was also responsible for giving Dilip Kumar his first role.) As it turned out, she became known as the First Lady of Indian Cinema and was the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke.

While some of the profiles in the book are definitely worth a read and chart the lives of actors and the roles they played in adequate detail, the ones on the “Big Three” (as the triumvirate of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand was known) do not provide any new information about them; the personal details of their lives are touched upon in a cursory manner, one that is definitely not worthy of the colourful lives they are supposed to have led and the trends they established. Behind-the-scenes stories about the movies they acted in are sorely missing. However, what does make these profiles engaging, if not terribly informative, is the fact that they evoke a time gone by.

What is not engaging, though, is Amitabh Bachchan’s profile which was a sore disappointment. There is no mention of what made this gangly man such a roaring success, how he overthrew the then reigning superstar Rajesh Khanna, his legendary liaison with Rekha, or his brief, bizarre ‘superhero’ phase when he acted in movies such as Jadugar, Toofan and Shahenshah. Instead, the piece reads like a hurriedly written CV, devoid of depth.

The profiles of the more contemporary actors — Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor — are also not impressive. Not only are some of them overly flattering, they are also lack-lustre. In the one about Madhuri, the writer seems more besotted with her physique than her work as an actor.

But there might be a reason for this. After all, present day film stars lack the mystery that those of the yesteryears possessed. There aren’t too many unanswered questions left about their love lives, there are no big “affairs” like those of the Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, or Amitabh and Rekha. Now, we can read about them telling us how in love that they; some go as far as tattooing their beloved’s names on their bodies, or endorsing brands with them. And they are also seemingly accessible, if not approachable, given the number of interviews they give and how much they share with us via twitter etcetera.

The book comes with a companion CD of an eclectic mix of songs that have been picturised on the actors profiled in the books. They range from Rafi’s “Din Dhal Jaye” from Guide, Mukhesh’s “Ramaiya Wasta Vaiya” to the more contemporary ones such as “Dholna” (Dil to Pagal Hai) and “Pehla Nasha” (Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander).

Bollywood’s Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema

(Film)

By Bhaichand Patel

Penguin Books, India

ISBN 9780670085729

296pp. Rs1,195