HarperCollins to release RK Mukherjee's book on Hema Malini

For those who know their Indian cinema, Hema Malini needs no introduction.

In an industry where the male star has always driven the commercial success of films, Hema Malini was an exception, with her name alone sufficing to ensure a film’s box-office glory.

She was, arguably, India’s first female superstar.

Apart from starring in mainstream super-hits like Johny Mera Naam, Jugnu, Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and recently Baghban, she received critical acclaim for her performances in Lal Patthar, Khushboo, Kinara, Meera, Ek Chadar Maili Si and Razia Sultan.

And then there was her awesome partnership with Dharmendra, with whom she co-starred in close to thirty films, making them one of the greatest on-screen couples in Indian cinema.

A truly multi-faceted personality, Hema Malini has been a film-maker and producer, directing films and television serials, an active Member of Parliament from Mathura, and has also performed the immensely successful classical dance ballets Draupadi, Radha Krishna and Durga.

This year she will be seen in Ramesh Sippy’s unusual love story Shimla Mirch with Rajkumar Rao.

The book will be published on her birthday in October 2017.

Speaking about the book, Hema Malini said, "Ram Kamal is a dear friend and a senior journalist and author. As editor-in-chief of Stardust, he had done a coffee table book on me almost ten years ago. It was a beautiful pictorial representation of my career as an actor. I wish him all the best for his latest endeavour with HarperCollins in writing another book on me."

Ram Kamal Mukherjee, senior journalist, former editor-in-chief with Stardust, author, columnist and creative director, said, "I think this is the right time to revisit Hema Malini's life and achievement, since she has been extremely active as a stage performer, actor and a politician. My first book on Hema Malini was pictorial, but this time it will be more about her achievement as a politician apart from her sojourn as an actor, danseuse and film-maker. It will offer a new perspective on Bollywood’s first female superstar. I am looking forward to it."

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri, executive editor, HarperCollins Publishers India, said, "For an entire generation in the 1970s and ’80s, the name Hema Malini was synonymous with everything that was beautiful and glamorous. It is a privilege to be publishing the authorized biography of someone who defined the growing-up years of my entire generation, whose films continue to resonate with us. To get an inside look at the life of one of our greatest cinema icons is simply incredible."

Image: Chandan Manna/Wikipedia