ȘNobody here wants to just make money...we all want to be famous!ș
The joke around town amongst actors is that Lokhandwala, in Bombayșs suburbs, may be the only place where you will actually have to give an audition to rent an apartment! Aspiring actors from all over India who move here share one thing in common: a Dream ȓ of fame, fortune and eternal glory.
Living the Dream: The Life of the ȘBollywoodș Actor is a visual story of those who try to make it in the worldșs largest film industry. Present here are newcomers waiting for the big break ȓ Gabbar Singh, Geetika Tyagi, Varun Thakur and Kanan Chakor ȓ juxtaposed with megastars like Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor. In all, more than a hundred photographs and interviews of people from every branch of Bollywood speaking frankly, often heart-wrenchingly, of a struggle where oneșs pride and ego are on the line every day. As Karan Johar puts it in the Foreword, ȘWhat this book captures is something we have never seen before ȓ it is what life really looks like for an actor in Bombay.ș
So what is Fame? For most actors, fame is unconditional love. The greater the success, the greater the love. Dharmendra once met a fan at a New York airport who, with tears in his eyes, could only utter, ȘDharmendraȦș The megastar embraced the man and thought to himself, ȘHe knows me only through the screenȦso, what is this relation? You canșt give any name to this relation other than LOVE.ș
About the Author
Mark Bennington was a classically trained working actor for ten years before picking up the camera in 2004. He has since become an award-winning portrait photographer, whose work has been seen in The Atlantic, Forbes, Platform, Worth, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal India and The Times of India, and exhibited in galleries around the world. Mark was also an adjunct professor of photography with the S.I. Newhouse School of Media and Communications at Syracuse University and returned to his acting roots in 2015 to co-star in Dibakar Banerjee’s film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, playing the role of Deputy Commissioner Wilkie. Mark lives with his wife Taapsi, a cultural anthropologist, in New York City.
