Did you know that filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar auditioned for folk dances during his college days and Salman Khan's father and Farah Khan's mother were the lead pair in a 1963 film?
These and several other titbits related to Hindi films and their makers find mention in a new book titled 'Decoding Bollywood: Stories of 15 Film Directors' by Sonia Golani.
"I went for these auditions more as a bystander with a group of students, but when I got selected, I felt that I did something right. Even though I bagged small roles, those moments on stage were very significant to me," the 'Lagaan' director tells the author.
The book is an account of Golani's interactions with some of Bollywood's most prominent directors.
"Considering the timelines, logistics and the framework of the book, 15 directors have been covered in this edition who have undoubtedly made significant contribution to Indian cinema," she says.
The stories, according to her, are not meant to offer a critique of the directors' films and she only attempts to delve into their professional and personal journeys on order to unravel and decode some aspects of the Hindi film industry.
The book, published by Westland, also says that Anurag Basu had to first dance as a background extra and later overcome cancer to witness 'Barfi' win hearts and awards. Some directors like Farah Khan and Zoya Akhtar had sterling antecedents but it took a tough childhood and intermittent assignments on film sets to win the box office with films like 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' respectively.
Keen to join the world of films, Anurag Basu started looking for a break and managed to get small roles for which he was paid as low as Rs 500 per day.
"During the filming of a dance sequence, with the hero in a paddy field, I asked one of the background dancers how much he got paid and was told that he made 800 bucks. I made friends with him and started looking for dancing roles which drew better remuneration," he says.
