She may be the wife of filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra but Anupama Chopra is a Hindi movie buff as well as magnificent critic. With a handful of books including The Making of Sholay and Shah Rukh Khan's biography to name a few, she has now come up with an appropriately-titled First Day, First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches. The new book is not only a compilation of her articles on Indian movies since 1993 but also takes you through the evolutionary process of Bollywood in the last two decades.

 One gets to know through this book that Anupama Chopra started her career in the early '90s and the first movie she saw as a critic was Govinda-Chunkey Pandey starrer Aankhen. Since then, she has reviewed countless movies, some are part of this book. That's not all, she has also profiled many an actor (as well as directors and writers) throughout her career and it is her writing that takes the readers through the ups and downs of the industry now known as Bollywood.

 Did you know that Sholay's premiere didn't feature the original 70mm print as it was detained by the Customs on the behest of a politician? Or that when director Subhash Ghai borrowed Shah Rukh Khan's mobile phone, callers thought he was his man Friday Subhash! Anupama Chopra takes you down memory lane to a time when Bollywood was the goldmine for gangsters who wanted to legalize their black money, when politicians reigned supreme and when actors with non-serious attitudes were treated as kings.

The way she writes about entertainment is undoubtedly the best kind of expression of feelings while watching a movie, interviewing a celebrity or discussing a movie that no one must watch. She labels Honey, Clerk and Jimmy as the worst movies she was made to watch and discusses them in detail; terming them, on many occasions, as 'benchmarks' in their own right. But that doesn't mean that whatever she writes is perfect. Her piece on modeling is very boring as are the ones regarding Tamil films and fellow columnists. But then, they would mean something to readers in India who worship Tamil films and follow the fashion industry as deliriously as they follow films.

The author, in different articles of hers, shows readers that Bollywood adopted change and that changed everything. Instead of weekend box office, the fate of actors and movies was decided by whoever was willing to adapt. Actors like Govinda, who was always late for his shootings, had to mend their ways. Actresses of the caliber of Rani Mukherjee had to do unconventional roles to stay in the game, and Shah Rukh Khan got not one but two Filmfare Awards for roles that were rejected by Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. She also tells how the mobile phone affected the industry, why the black marketers are fading away and how she herself became breaking news one day, and still regrets it.

The book also counters serious issues in India like the vulgarity that escalated after 'Choli Kay Peeche Kia Hai' and was given paramount importance in director David Dhawan's movies. She talks about the panic that set in after the murder of producer Gulshan Kumar as well as the tumbling of Amitabh Bachchan from iconic hero to just an icon. There is not a single picture in this book, and the posters of some of the movies reviewed here would have added some colour.

 What makes this book better than the ones in the market is the way Anupama covers the personalities of all the key players. From Amitabh Bachchan to Mithun Chakraborty, Shah Rukh Khan to Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit to Neena Gupta, Govinda to Karisma Kapoor, Kajol to Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji to Kareena Kapoor and from Hollywood director M Night Shyamalan to Angelina Jolie - she brings out an unbiased and unparalleled profile for the readers who worship these stars, especially across the border.

 She calls Madhuri a goddess and proves her as one by writing 'She doesn't ooze sex, she suggests it' and 'In Tinseltown, hype is the king, or queen in this case.' She doesn't use the Vidhu Vinod Chopra (her husband) card on anyone except Govinda, and that too because the actor was hard to find by a print journalist but always on the radar of a director. She terms him her favourite actor and even describes Govinda in a manner that would make even Shah Rukh Khan seem small.

 The author also seems to have a special place in her heart and pen for new age director Aditya Chopra, Sooraj Barjatya and Karan Johar. She writes about them as if they were Hollywood material even when all their films portray are the rich, richer and richest. In fact, had she been unbiased, she would have argued the overuse of songs, the ideal scenario as well as lavish spending in their movies, which she does, but not in the manner expected from her.

Probably the best chapter of the book is the one in which she describes Bollywood's craving for the Academy Awards. She debates that Indian films are not up for Oscar because of their story, their characters and song-and-dance scenario which are the very reasons why people in India watch them in the first place. She also charts out a plan as to how an Oscar can come to India a decade before A. R Rahman brought India its first Academy Award.

Just like a Hindi film, FDFS has a prologue, an interval and an epilogue. Like the greatest hits she writes about, the book keeps you engrossed as she masterfully discusses Bollywood flicks with ease, without mincing words or playing favourites. Like in the Sholay Prologue, the excerpts from her book make you fall in love with the Ramesh Sippy flick since it tells you how hard it was for the filmmaker to satisfy cinegoers as well as the press, the media and the government! The Interval (named Interlude in this book) is made up of excerpts from Dilwale Dulhanya Le Jayenge - Chopra's second book - and makes you understand the inspirations, the aspirations and the vision behind the longest-running Indian movie. It tells you how a newbie director came up with a novel idea and used the tried-and-tested formula to his own advantage.

 The epilogue in the book features a detailed discussion on how Shah Rukh Khan has helped Bollywood instead of the other way round. Sadly, it is not the best excerpt from Chopra's book King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema as it discusses the success of Indian cinema instead of SRK. That said,  these three chapters make a particularly interesting read because of the research the writer has done, and the facts that she throws in for the readers.

 If you want to know why the new villains in Bollywood are as smart as savvy as the heroes, or why Honey Irani managed to carve a niche for herself late in her career, don't look far. This book has it all. It told me that Kareena Kapoor used to think she was the 'most hated person', or her current husband Saif Ali Khan got his big break because his first wife Amrita Singh guaranteed that he would behave. Interesting, isn't it?
On the whole, FDFS takes you back and forth in time and the gripping narrative - be it an article about a movie or a celebrity profile - makes it a fantastic page turner. The book is a must read even if you are not a fan of the industry known as Bollywood.

 — Available in Pakistan and will set you back 1095 rupees