To the fans of Shah Rukh Khan, it must have seemed like the star was everywhere in New York City - even though he was not physically present here. Actually, it was Anupama Chopra who came to the city this past week, to promote her biography of Khan - King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema. To give New York’s film buffs a context to Khan and the world of Bollywood, Chopra spoke at screenings of the actor’s two recent films - Kal Ho Naa Ho and Devdas. And while Chopra was busy promoting her book, Khan’s latest Chak De! India opened to a tremendous response at the city’s The ImaginAsian theatre.
The book launch event - organised by the Indo-American Arts Council and the South Asian Journalists Association, was held at the Doubletree Hotel on Manhattan’s eastside. Among the over 200 people, there were many new faces - people one does not see at other literary gatherings. Chopra is a talented film writer, but this time, it was Khan’s star power that brought out the fans.
And since Khan could not be present at the event - he was at the London premiere of Chak De! - Chopra played a 19-minute-long DVD of her post-book release interview with the actor. In the interview, Khan looked very different - with long shaggy hair, black t-shirt, jeans and a very buffed up body. One American fan commented that Khan looked like Sylvester Stallone on steroids. The film was interspersed with Khan’s popular song sequences. When he spoke with Chopra, Khan appeared to be a bit nervous, moving his hands and legs, and slightly swirling his chair. But he also presented his most charming and articulate side.
After the reading, Chopra sat at the head of the table and Khan’s fans lined up to get the book autographed, while journalists and others gathered around Chopra’s film-maker husband - Vidhu Vinod. New York’s leading South Asian party personality - DJ Rekha - played her music. And on one side, New York-based painter and mixed media artist, James Banta displayed his works - colourful collages of Khan’s film posters and stills surrounded by dried flowers and other colourful objects.
Earlier Chopra was interviewed by popular radio personality Leonard Lopate on New York’s public radio station. “Shah Rukh is the face of the new, post-liberalisation India ,” Chopra said. “He is a yuppie who enjoys the material comforts of the west and yet holds on to key traditional Indian values.”
And emphasising the fact that she often mentions Khan’s over-the-top acting style in her book, Chopra added, “The jury is still out on how good an actor he is.”
The Kal Ho Naa Ho screening was held on a hot and muggy evening at the open air screening facility in Socrates Park, located in the city’s Queens borough.
Two days later, as the weather shifted to a cold and rainy day, Chopra again travelled to Queens to introduce Devdas at the Museum of the Moving Image - a prime arts institution in Astoria, Queens, dedicated to films and television. Chopra sat for an hour in the museum’s book shop signing copies of the book, with her husband for company.
Later, Chopra stood in front of about 50 people in the auditorium - a remarkable number given the fact that it was cold and wet outside - and read the chapter on the making of Devdas from her book.
Chopra also acknowledged that selling the book to the mainstream audience may be a challenge, but the time was right. “Of course, I wanted Indians to pick it up and get a sense of him and the Indian film industry,” she said. “But I very much wanted it to be a mainstream book and I think they can do it. Warner (her publisher) is not academic press. They wouldn’t take a risk like that.”
It will take New Yorkers many years before they can comprehend Bollywood cinema. But with her book being published in the US, and in introducing the two films, Chopra did plant the seeds of thought in the minds of a few New Yorkers.ls.
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