Steaming hot

A book that recounts spicy tales about Kannada cinema has had three reprints in a week of its release.The writer now mulls a sequel

Be it books or films,nothing sells like controversies.A book in Kannada that features some of Sandalwoods darkest stories is flying off shelves.Check out the samples from the book aptly titled Off the Record and you will know why it had to have three reprints in a week of its release.The publishers,however,declined to reveal the exact number of copies.In the 80s,Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan called legendary actor Rajkumar mini-Hitler,leading to a flare-up before the shooting of Coolie.Actor Tara and photographer Venu's love blossomed in a newspaper office.Written by veteran film journalist Ganesh Kasargod,the book is not just a compilation of unpublished film gossip,but in a way it records the history of Kannada cinema in the last few decades.Untold squabbles between actors,directors and some steamy tales from the industry are also part of the book.
The writer says it is not a deliberate ploy to cook up controversies in the autumn of his career.
I took a conscious decision to write this particular book after much c o n s i d e r a t i o n.Many episodes in the book happened years ago and in some cases the actors concerned have passed away.Stories termed off-the-record by film personalities are many times told with the intention that they should be published.There are also episodes that resulted after something was written, says Ganesh.
On the Bachchan-Raj Kumar story,he says the drama unfolded after a Mumbaibased trade magazine quoted an unknown actor as saying that Rajkumar was like a 'mini Hitler' in Karnataka'.Soon word spread that the actor was none other than Big B.
Though privately circulated,the news soon found its way to Bangalore where Bachchan was to shoot major sequences for his film Coolie.
Expectedly,screening of his films was halted across the state and the proposed shooting plans were on the brink.A flareup looked imminent.
The book narrates how a secret meeting between the two legends was arranged and a major showdown was averted.Bachchan,it is written,met Rajkumar at his residence and again on the sets of Bhakta Prahalada.
Radhika's parents were critical of abusive about actors like Vishnuvardhan and Ravichandran whom they described as too 'old' to act opposite their daughter.Now Radhika has a husband in real life who is old enough to be her father, says Ganesh,jokingly.
A chapter in the book also chronicles how Radhika's parents remote-controlled her career from behind the scenes.Another chapter recites how Anant Nag was saved from committing suicide by his actress-wife Gayathri in the nick of time.The author is so overwhelmed by the response that he is toying with the idea of writing a sequel.
Will it be called On the Record We wonder.