SCENE: 75

A no-holds-barred exposé of the Hindi film industry's sordid underbelly. Ali Amjad comes from Benares to make it as a scriptwriter in Bombay, only to experience the absurd and tragic reality behind the film world s glamour as he navigates through it with his fellow strugglers. A short, fascinating novel set in the Bombay of the 1970s, Rahi Masoom Raza s Scene: 75 is a crazy kaleidoscope of stories within stories populated by a cast of extraordinary and memorable but also cynical and manipulative characters, from struggling directors and wealthy lesbians, to film-obsessed social climbers and sleazy producers. In this irreverent, surreal, deeply satirical and darkly humorous work, the author s biting prose takes an unflinching look at both Hindu Muslim and class relations, as well as at how human ties corrode and wither because of ambition and self-interest. Superbly translated by Poonam Saxena, this lost classic from Rahi Masoom Raza rips off the tinsel curtain that hides the film industry s hypocrisy, insecurity and desperation for success. It is a novel that will delight and disturb in equal measure.

Rahi Masoom Raza (1927 1992) was born in Ghazipur on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh. He studied at Aligarh Muslim University, where he did a doctorate in Hindustani literature and where he also taught for a while. One of the finest novelists and poets of his time, Rahi Masoom Raza was proficient in both Hindi and Urdu. His best-known work is Aadha Gaon, about rival Muslim landlord families in the village of Gangauli at the time of Partition. His other well-known works are Topi Shukla, Katra Bi Aarzo, Neem Ka Ped and Os Ki Boond. He found fame as a dialogue writer in the Hindi film industry, and worked on movies like Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Gol Maal, Mili, Karz, Lamhe, etc. He also wrote the path-breaking dialogues for the 1980s TV epic, Mahabharat. Poonam Saxena is the national weekend editor of the Hindustan Times. Before that, she launched and edited the newspaper s Sunday magazine, Brunch, for 12 years. She has translated the great Hindi writer Dharamvir Bharati s iconic 1949 novel Gunahon ka Devta into English (Chander & Sudha), and is the co-author of filmmaker Karan Johar s memoir, An Unsuitable Boy.