A book on Big B's 40-year cinematic journey by Osians

Superstar of the Millennium Amitabh Bachchan's rich cinematic journey, from Khwaja Ahmed Abbas' 'Saat Hindustani' in the late 60s to his latest 'Bhootnath', will be captured in a new book on the films and memorabilia of the megastar.

'Bachchanalia: The Films and Memorabilia of Amitabh Bachchan', co-authored by veteran film critic Bhawana Somaaya and the Osian's Centre for Archiving, Research and Development (CARD), is a unique documentation of the filmography of arguably one of the greatest personalities of the Indian and world cinema.

The book, to be launched tomorrow as the first publication of the Osian's Connoisseur of Arts' full-fledged Publishing and Design House, is a unique documentation of the megastar's filmography, illustrated through rare and exclusive film posters and publicity material from the Osian's Archive and Library Collection.

According to Ms Somaaya, recipient of several prestigious awards and former editor of the 'Screen', the seeds of this book were sown by her in the publication 'Amitabh: Now and Forever' in 2001. With the partnership of the Osians CARD as source of new imagery, narratives, archival knowledge, production and design values, the book has been transformed into the first of its kind in Asia, if not the world, to depict a complete cinematic journey through the mesmeric publicity material stretching 40 years, from the days of hand painted posters to the present day of digitally doctored photographic montages, she added.

An exclusive exhibition of the Memorabilia from the Osian's Archive Collection, which is the basis of 'Bachchanalia', will also be on display at the launch of the book tomorrow in Mumbai. According to Neville Tuli of Osian's Connoisseur of Arts, the experience of being in such close proximity to some of the finest original film posters, lobby cards and photographs of the legend will be a nostalgic and unparalleled event.

Mr Tuli said, ''Nine years for one small step: After publishing over 50 quality books, building the base, Osian's now feels ready to launch a Publishing and Design House for the external world. It is our great joy that our first publication, 'Bachchanalia', is on the films and memorabilia of one of the greatest actors of the world cinema Amitabh Bachchan.

''We hope our commitment to honour the book will now grow day-by-day, complementing our vision of fusing text and image to create knowledge, so as to help rebuild the cultural infrastructure,'' he added.

-- (UNI) -- 02DI34.xml

Viewer's Comment

Comments Not Available

More Stories