When you
first start reading the book, the initial thought that comes to mind is, was it
seriously written by a 15-year-old going through issues with their high school teen
life? The first chapter was a bit too much for me. I thought, man is he trying
to gain sympathy from the readers? I literally put the book down for three
days. Maybe my expectation level was a bit high?
When I
finally started reading again, I slowly took the words into perspective. Then I
realised that this book was supposed to be personal. The book speaks like, its
talking to someone close to you. Like an old friend confiding in you after a
really long time. You don’t need heavy words to talk to your friends, you just confide.
The first
chapter of the book describes everything that happened in his childhood. From
the good to the bad and from the bad to the good. You might start thinking that
why is he talking about his friends who live in his building and why does he
really need to speak about it? Further on, you catch on that this book, if
anything else, gives an insight into his private life.
I got this
book, thinking it might have some Bollywood masala kind of news, but as you
slowly get absorbed into it, you know the background of everything that happens
in the movie making business. You will be able to relate to the book a lot more
if you have been watching Koffee with Karan since the beginning!
He tells us
about how his transition, from getting into his father’s business to becoming a
director, came along. And how he had decided that would become a costume
designer! He gets personal about his friends, Aditya Chopra, Apoorva and
others. He speaks about his first funny encounter with Shahrukh Khan and how he
wasn’t a big a fan of his before he first met him and started talking to him.
Although he
was not a big Bollywood fan and he got into the movie industry with quiet an
ease, he struggled to find his place. He gets extremely raw about his father’s
death in the book and that was one time when I did have goosebumps on my arms
and you do get a soft corner for him! He hasn’t held back certain details about
his life and his struggle and comes out to the readers ready to be judged. But
on the other hand, he has kept his readers in an anxious state about other
details with his friends and family. The rift with Kajol was such. He went
ahead and wrote about the reason the fall out happened but he hasn’t elaborated
it.
What I did
notice is that, his father’s personality and upbringing has certainly rubbed off
him. He speaks about how his father let others take him for granted in the
beginning and how he was ready to do everyone’s work. When you get through 3/4th
of the book, you realise that he does have some of his father’s qualities. He
is ready to help people out, he is grounded with his goals. He clearly tells
his readers that people think that he is a snooty rich boy and he is not afraid
to admit it. He likes spending on luxury items and knows that he has worked for
it.
While
reading the book, you do feel that he tried to find the respect that was given
to senior directors and to those people who have kept their aura as mystique
and unapproachable. But what he doesn’t acknowledge is that people like him for
what he is. He knows the low down of his generation and as well as the younger
generation. People want him to communicate and so he has and he wants the same
from other members of the fraternity.
This book
is fun and filled with anecdotes about his life. If he has gone way too raw and
personal with his life, he also has kept it private at a certain extent. I also
feel that he has tried to fix certain fallouts and explained them through his
book. Another thing that I really liked about him in his book is that he has
appreciated and acknowledged the people responsible for bringing him from his
days of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
to the influence,
he has created in the industry today.
All in all,
it is a fun read if you keep your expectations in a normal range during the
beginning of the book.
No comments