This book hopes to capture some of the magic created by the famous stars –heroes, heroines, villains, comedians, character actors- as well as playback singers and music directors and of course, directors of the golden era of Hindi cinema that spanned the 1960s and 1970s.This magic still lives on and I hope this book will play a role in keeping it alive and passing it on to the coming generations.

The genius of these towering personalities does not end with them- it provides a peep into a time that had a romance and artistic feel all of its own. I was fortunate to have been part of it since my childhood, when the love affair with Hindi cinema started. My parents simply loved to watch films and my brother and I always went with them. So we were initiated into this magical world quite early in life And it stayed with us alongwith lingering memories of songs and stars on cinema screens in theatres now long vanished. This magic, those memories, that fascination is now pushing me to put on paper my love for Hindi cinema’s most beautiful era.

Through my personal fondness and emotional connection with the films and stars of this era, I hope to bring a warm touch to their profiles. With this nostalgic lens, I hope to bring out the features no longer visible in present-day films, their themes or characters. This book takes one back into a world where emotions, romance, melody and a very different set of moral values prevailed in our cinema. Charisma too was a dominant force on the silver screen and my book highlights its various ineffable aspects. Chetan Anand ‘s fine directorial skill, Raj Kapoor’s showmanship, Dilip Kumar’s perfection as the king of tragedy, Madhubala’s ethereal beauty and vibrancy or Dev Anand;s