Hindujas And Bollywood

What we call the golden age of Hindi cinema was also the golden age of the global cultural journey of Hindi films across the globe. Today, Hindi films are doing good business all over the world, but its foundation was laid in 1955 by Hinduja brothers in Iran. This journey which started in Iran quickly became famous all over the world. Today, hardly anyone can believe that about fifty years ago, when Raj Kapoor's film 'Sangam' was released in Iran, dubbed in Persian, it ran for three years and for one year in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India' and Ramesh Sippy's 'Sholay' also ran for a year in Iran. Indian industrialists Hinduja brothers screened around 1200 Hindi films worldwide from 1954-55 to 1984-85 and in this manner 'Bollywood' was shaped. Hindujas and Bollywood is in a way an attempt to revive that golden history of Hindi cinema which is almost forgotten today. This book takes us on a historic global cultural journey of nearly twelve hundred Hindi films that were successful through the efforts of the Hinduja brothers. It is pleasant to see that this journey of twelve hundred films from Raj Kapoor's 'Shree 420 (1954-55) to Amitabh Bachchan's 'Naseeb' (1984-85) which started from Iran via Britain, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Thailand, Greece reached the whole world. Many untold stories of this journey will be loved by readers and film lovers. Ajit Rai provides an incisive description of host of memories connected with Hindujas and Hindi film industry in this book. Much has been written about wordly achievements of Hindujas but for the first time an attempt has been made to portray their deep passion for Hindi cinema. Enlivening the narrative are Ajit's warm portrait of Hinduja brothers and their friends including a smattering of Raj Kapoor, Devanand, Yash Chopra and Dharmendra. It brings to light little known details about Hindujas that most people did not know of. Not to mention the startling trivia like Hindujas naming their Tehran office Arzoo and Britain's richest man taking a ride of auto rickshaw on streets of Mumbai. Lucid and engaging Ajit Rai shares many more memorable incidents that have defined their illustrious lives. Rehan Fazal, BBC, Delhi, INDIA