Meet Amborish Roy Choudhury. Over the past few months, he has been a significant point of discussion and interviews and online seminars revolving around his new book Raj Khosla – The Authorised Biography published by Hachette India earlier this year. It is a very comprehensive, analytical and research-centric book on a very successful filmmaker in Bollywood who is remembered more by the names of his films, the songs in them and less remembered for his rich contribution to cinema. Impressed with the book mainly for its intensive and extensive field and documentary research, this critic felt that a Q and A with the author himself would be far more enlightening than just review of the book.

A bit of the story of how you shifted from advertising which was highly paying to the uncertain world of writing on cinema personalities.

I spent more than a decade in advertising. In this period, I had been with some leading Mumbai agencies: Rediffusion, FCB Ulka, Interactive Avenues and others. My expertise was social media marketing. Although I enjoyed my stint with those agencies and still occasionally freelance in the field of social media, something really shifted in me when I discovered that the relationship I had with cinema could take the form of books. My first book In a Cult of their Own: Bollywood Beyond Box Office took me on a journey that I realised I enjoyed far more than working on pitch decks and attending client meetings. But it all came to a head when the book was recognised at the 66th National Film Awards. That is when I decided to take up writing seriously as a full-time career. I have written two books and been part of an anthology since then and enjoyed every bit of it. In the age of AI, writing books on cinema doesn't pay a fraction of what a career in advertising potentially can, but I have come to believe that it is my calling, and I’d like to continue doing this till I can’t any longer.

Tell us a bit about your first book which fetched you a Certificate of Merit at the National Awards.

My first book won a special mention at the 66th National Film Awards, back in 2019. It was a collection of essays on Hindi cult films. I defined “cult” in my own way: films that didn’t do as well as expected when they released, but eventually developed a cult following online or elsewhere. It contained all kinds of films — good bad and ugly. It featured films like Kaagaz ke Phool, Mera Naam Joker, Shahenshah, Gunda, Chashme Buddoor, Suraksha, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Andaz Apna Apna, Clerk, Katha and several others. I tried to reach out to those associated with the film, either the makers or the cast/ crew.

In some cases, I was successful. The book ended up having interviews with Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Tinnu Anand, Rajkumar Santoshi, Pankaj Kapur, Deepti Naval and others. They shared crucial perspective, and the rest was provided by my own viewing of the film in its socio cultural context. It was received well but I was taken aback when I was informed........

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