Anupama Chopra is a senior and a celebrated journalist in Entertainment beat. While on-field too I got to learn a thing or two from her about movie reviewing. And with this book, In conversation with the stars, I learnt the art of pulling off an impeccable interview.

The book consists of 11 interviews done by Chopra for her channel Film Companion. These are not merely interviews but heart to heart conversations. The author, with her questions, delves a tad deeper into the lives of celebs. There are common parameters I saw in this book which the author tries to understand, namely – understanding the process of how ever actor gets into the character, how every actor handles stardom, failure and what they wish to do if they ever retire. The author picks one current topic from the celeb’s life and then weaves her way to the general questions that are mentioned above.

The writing is in question and answer format. The language is simple and the conversation is absolutely lively. What you read in these interviews seems authentic and very interesting. These interviews put you in awe, make you laugh and also charge you emotionally. There were bits of information which were surprising, for instance, Ranbir Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Hrithik Roshan use different perfumes for different characters!

I was watching the same interviews alongside reading the book and I found that some chunks from the video interview didn’t find place in the book. However, I learnt a lot from Anupama Chopra’s conversation skills. The book presents celebrities’ philosophical and spiritual thoughts towards acting and life and also has many encouraging and inspiring quotes by them.

Out of all the interviews, the one that stood out for me and which I immensely loved was the interview of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I have been following his interviews since the day I began reading the Screen magazine and his words only get more interesting and motivating. SLB is truly a creative genius and Chopra’s questions brought forth an SLB we hardly know.

Rating: 4.5 stars
Publisher: Rupa Publication
To buy the book, pls click https://amzn.to/2KmFsAe