Being an ardent fan of Kindle and Amazon, I subscribed to

Amazon Unlimited for a very limited period of 6 months and decided to make the most of it. Not that the Amazon Unlimited list of books looked that enticing; like an acquaintance quite rightly put it, “it’s full of junk.” But, my funda was quite clear. I had no intentions of shelling money on most of those books as I didn’t find most of the books worthy of possession. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to read it! So, I treated the Amazon Unlimited as my personal library of “junk”. This book, recommended by a filmy friend of mine, was one of the last books I read during the tenure of my subscription.

 

Before I get into my thoughts about the book let me put across a few disclaimers. 1) I’m neither a RGV fan nor hater. (Seems like his world is replete of either of the two.) 2) I’ve not watched any of his movies, except Rangeela, which I loved (<3).

Now, into the book. I peeled open this book in a very neutral state of mind, expecting nothing more than pages that would entertain me. I hoped to get to know RGV better, as a filmmaker and a person. Did I? Well, this is how the book begins.

Owing to their trememdous contribution to my life in one way or the other, I dedicate this book to Mad magazine, Ayn Rand, Urmila Matondkar, Bruce Lee, Amitabh Bachchan, porn star Tori Black and a few gangsters.

This book is more about RGV as a filmmaker than as a person. It scans through his work, his film career; his thoughts, creative process, manipulations and the functioning of the industry. I found RGV to be a dreamer living a mesmerized life in his fantastic world of cinema. An admirer of everything bold, beautiful, raw and exotic, greedily waiting to immortalise this beauty on the celluloid. An unperturbed scientist of cinema who, not only isn’t afraid or apologetic of his failures, but also owns up to every single one of it. Sometimes the book feels like his diary of confessions.

The one thing that stands out throughout the narrative is his crass and raw honesty and a carefree thug attitude. Going through most parts of the book, I suspect, he was high, on success or on some other substance we aren’t aware of. His “love affair” with the media is well documented and deserves a full chapter just as his haters, critics and underachievers,who he fondly calls “inbetweenists”, have. Fanboy moments with Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan have also found their way into the book. His famous (or infamous?) gangster obsession has also provided us with some interesting stories. But his real life love affairs, the ones that have found its way into the juicy annals of page 3 columns,have been left out. You will also fine a few incidents from his life that have helped in shaping the person he is.

Rating    : 3/5

Verdict: A very honest account of a filmmaker which every cinephile will find as a light read. Continue reading “Guns & Thighs: The story of my life”