What were they reading?
Spotting some books in the universe of Indian cinema
You can judge a lot about a person from the books they read, or don’t.
Indeed, the instances of lives being impacted by books are far too many to count — from those who learnt to live positively by reading Robin Sharma, to Elon Musk who credits his genius to an obsessive habit of reading, to ones like Mark Chapman who were inspired to take a life due to a certain Catcher in the rye.
The movie industry has had an intimate relationship with the world of literature. Hollywood, for one, abounds with numerous books being made into blockbuster hits, and even vice versa when movies were turned into books, albeit with limited success. Closer home, the Indian film industry has indulged in the same, helping fill up the coffers of some of our contemporary ‘writers’, yet leaving much to be desired for.
Although book adaptations as a trend may have surfaced only in the last few years, story writers have had a penchant for adding to a character’s personality through ‘intellectual’ elements like a bag, nerdy spectacles or the simplest — a book. And such instances go as far back as the 60s.
Aradhana (1969)
In the evergreen melody ‘Mere sapnon ki rani’, as Rajesh Khanna chases Sharmila’s train while unabashedly announcing his love, the latter is busy ostrich-ing her head in Alistair MacLean’s When Eight Bells Toll (1965).
An interest in reading goes well with the setting of Sharmila’s family (her father was a doctor in the movie), and complements her demure behaviour in the face of a lover’s pursuit while still maintaining an air of empowerment and modernity — a thing that is pivotal to the way her story unfolds. On the flip side, the timing of the book’s publishing, and the production and release of the movie, make it seem it was merely the flavour of the times when the movie was shot.
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)
Almost three decades after Aradhana, books still seemed to be the weapon of choice for women trying to avoid a man’s amorous advances. Kajol’s Simran with a book in hand presents a sharp contrast to SRK’s carefree, beer-toting Raj.
We again see Bollywood dabbling into contemporary literature with The Scarlet Temptress (1991). The racy content of the book might lead us to draw associations with Simran breaking free of the traditional mould, but then this is a Yash Raj romance, and we should be doing ourselves a favour by stopping right there.
Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Seriously, now it seems Bollywood has gone too far with the stereotype of the woman being the reader, and the man playing the philanderer (a classic reversal of the sages and apsaras in our mythology, no?). Here we have Aamir a.k.a Aaaakaash winning over the damsel through constant tomfoolery peppered with caustic witty remarks.
In this shot in a shuttle in Sydney, our hero is wondering why people fall in love while Preity is pretending to read Steve Martini’s The Attorney — a legal themed fictional story featuring a custodial battle. Preity’s character‘s interest in the same isn’t hard to decipher as she has been brought up by foster parents in the wake of her parent’s car crash.
It helps to know that Preity has a degree in Criminal Psychology, and this might well be what she was reading at that time (the book came out in 2000 and the movie in 2001).
Main Hoon Na (2004)
Let me laugh a little. Zayed Khan holding H.C.Verma’s Concepts of Physics (Vol 2) is perhaps the only 5 seconds in the movie where it appears that this is an academic institution.
I remember reading a forum where someone questioned why a college student was shown reading a Class XII textbook. To that, I’m like, “Boss! That guy could have difficulty reading Tinkle.”
Wake Up Sid (2009)
Here comes an example where I am reasonably certain that there was thought behind the choice of book. Here Ranbir Kapoor is turning the first page of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. Also, this is not the only frame where the book appears in the movie.
Earlier, we are shown that Konkana is reading the book. So, for me, besides this being a part of Sid’s coming-of-age (Murakami’s books can lead to immense introspection), this also depicts a sharing of literature thereby strengthening the bond Konkana and Ranbir’s characters share. Not to mention, the book has specific references to attraction between a young boy and a more mature woman, and more general overtones of love nurturing beyond conventional social mores.
I am sure I have managed to miss numerous other instances of books surfacing in Bollywood movies. And I would be happy if you can share the ones you know.
However, the list will be incomplete without a mention of Shilpa Shetty’s Baazigar face that was read by SRK and then, just like a math book post exams, tossed away from the top of his terrace.
Fin.
