Bollywood Boy
Justine Hardy
Hrithik Roshan burst on to the Bollywood firmament in 2000 with the monster hit Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. The be-muscled light-eyed actor quickly became an object of attraction to Hindi cinema fans across the world, with men and women alike swooning over him. Bollywood Boy traces Roshan's rise to stardom and gives us a potted view of the workings of the Bollywood machine along the way.
Hardy's earlier book Scoop-Wallah was a hilarious account of her experiences while working with an Indian newspaper. Unfortunately, in Bollywood Boy, her tone varies wildly from informative to breathless prose. For example, "Then the green-eyed boy lifted his head, turned and looked straight at me. Welcome to Bollywood, city of dreams and dance routines. I am looking into film star eyes. I am in the movies." Straight out of a film rag, but then again, it could be a deliberate attempt at kitsch.
Naman Ramachandran
