There is much unrest in Vardaan, home to one of the most
important film families. Raj, the superstar, has decided to
leave his wife Simran for the reigning queen of Bollywood,
Sia. Simran, former actress but homebody now, is out of shape
and down in the dumps.
Her in-laws dote on her but can’t seem to dissuade their son.
Besides, their only daughter, Ashima, has walked out of an
unhappy marriage and returned home to announce she wants to be an actor. They have
their hands full, and in the midst of all this, Raj and Simran’s children suffer as news of
their father’s alleged affair trickles in relentlessly. How is Simran ever going to seek out
happiness, and perhaps love as well, in this dark maize of rejection?
A saga of love and betrayal and the quest for one’s true identity, Gajra Kottary’s new novel
gives us an insider’s view of the world of cinema and the many faces of an industry where
fame is fleeting and everything is as real as it is dramatic.
About The Author:
Gajra Kottary is a multi-media writer. Her first
collection of women-centric short stories,
Fragile Victories, was published in 1996. It was
followed by another collection, The Last Laugh,
in 2003. Her debut novel Broken Melodies was
published by HarperCollins Publishers India in
2011 to critical acclaim, simultaneously with its
Hindi translation Bikhre Sur. Gajra has written
television serials like Hamare Tumhare, Astitva
– Ek Prem Kahani, the nation’s most popular
daily soap Balika Vadhu, and more recently,
Buddha and Veera. She has won many awards
for her TV scripts/stories; among them are
the Indian Television Academy’s Best Teleplay
Award, the Indian Telly Award, the Apsara
Award and the Global Indian Television Award.
She was also the script associate with Mahesh
Bhatt on the film Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar directed
by Tanuja Chandra. This is her second novel.: