A rollicking novel about the razzle-dazzle of the Hindi film industry, know as Bollywood. “Exuberant and clever . . . both affectionately and fiercely done.”–New York Times Books Review Notable book of the year

This triumphant novel about the razzle-dazzle Hindi film industry confirms Shashi Tharoor’s reputation as one of India’s most important voices and a writer of world stature. His hero –or antihero– is Ashok Banjara, one of Bollywood’s mega-movie stars, a man of great ambition and dubious morals. With irrepressible charm and a genius for staure, Tharoor protrays the film world, with all its Hollywoodesque glitz and glamour, egos and double standards, as a metaphor for modern Indian society. On-screen fiction and offscreen reality intertwine seamlessly to weave a tapestry of power and privilege, seduction and betrayal, politics and intrigue, that is at once colorful, entertaining, and deadly serious.