Friday, December 3, 2010

Shatrughan Sinha gets booked

Khamosh! Shatrughan Sinha is telling it all and as it is. And as usual, the actor will be frank, fearless and funny. Veteran film journalist Bharathi S Pradhan is in the midst of penning the authorised biography of Shotgun.


Shatrughan Sinha and Bharathi S Pradhan

The book, yet unitled, is being published by Roli Books and is expected to hit stands on July 9, 2011 - the 31st wedding anniversary of Shotgun and Punam.

The book encapsulates the actor's journey from Patna to Parliament, in a nutshell. Bharathi says it is an account and is not being done for sensationalism.

"It is not outrageous or disgusting," she points out. "It is a factual account of his beginnings in Bihar to filmdom and later, politics."

Helping her put together the book are Sinha's brothers, wife Punam, twin sons Luv and Kush and daughter Sonakshi, as well as his associates from his FTII days and politics.

All Shotgun's women

All the women linked to Shotgun do figure in the book including Reena Roy with whom the star allegedly had an affair. "Of course Reena will feature in the book," says Bharathi. "All the women he was linked with are my good friends too!" she muses.

The biography also has references to the star-politican's associations with Sanjay Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan, something that has constantly been under media scanner.

Bharathi has been doing research for over a year and interviewing all those who have known and interacted with Shatru for the book. She was recently in Chennai to interview Rajnikant.

"Shatru had fixed our meeting and to my delight, after what he had to say about Shatrughan, Rajnikant even gave me an interview ('I Am 61 Years Old, Bahut Ho Gaya!'; HiTLIST, December 1) a rare instance as he never gives interviews."

Bharathi's first encounter with Shotgun was in the mid-'70s when he was shooting for a film at Rooptara Studios in Dadar.

"The studio no longer exists and I don't even recall the name of the film.

I was in college then and used to write for the Youth Times and The Evening News of India. I used to go along with the Filmfare and Madhuri staffers to film shoots."

It is this almost four decades old association with Shatrughan that made Roli Books approach Bharathi to pen his biography.

Title kya? Shotgun or Khamosh!
The title of Shatrughan Sinha's biography has not yet been finalised. "Everyone says Shotgun must be in the title," says Bharathi. "In fact, Vidya Balan has suggested that it must have Khamosh in it!

Biographies of stars

Pran's biography is titled ...and Pran. Written by Bunny Reuben, the book was so named as in most of the films the actor's name in the titles appeared as 'and Pran'.

Bunny Reuben also penned the biography of Raj Kapoor titled Raj Kapoor: The Fabulous Showman

Yesteryear danseuse-actress Vyjayantimala penned Bonding ¦ A Memoir along with Jyoti Sabharwal. She claimed she had no relationship with Raj Kapoor which created a furore with Rishi Kapoor claiming she had.

Dev Anand's colourful past unfolded in his autobiography Romancing With Life in which he got candid about his romance with Zeenat Aman.

Daughters Priya and Namrata Dutt recount the story of their parents in Mr and Mrs Dutt: Memories Of Our Parents.

On Puri's biography Unlikely Hero Om Puri penned by his wife Nandita led to a furore due to the detailing of the actor's sexcapades during his growing up years.

To Be Or Not To Be Amitabh Bachchan has been written by Jaya Bachchan. It has the star from being nowhere to somewhere to everywhere.

Still Reading Khan a biographical book on Shah Rukh Khan has been penned by Mushtaq Sheikh, which was followed by Shah Rukh Can.

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