MUST READ BOOKS – April 2025
On Beauty: The Cinema of Sanjay Leela Bhansali
by Prathyush Parasuraman
What does it mean to be in the presence of beauty? And how can one explore and understand this through the filmography of writer, director, editor, music composer and choreographer Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
In this sweeping text, Prathyush Parasuraman walks the reader through the auteur’s films–those hailed, those hauled–like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Padmaavat, Devdas, Ram-Leela, and Saawariya. With sensitivity and finesse, On Beauty examines beauty as an idea, and aesthetics as a philosophy, while simultaneously shedding light on the making of Bhansali’s painstaking frames through conversations with his cinematographers, composers, choreographers and production and costume designers. In these pages, Bhansali’s cinema comes alive.
Echoes of Eternity: Vyasa and the Puranic Tales
by Krishna Prasanth Guttikonda
Embark on a captivating journey through the timeless wisdom of the Puranas, a collection of eighteen sacred Hindu texts attributed to the sage Vyasa.
“Echoes of Eternity” takes you on a captivating journey through:
- The creation of the universe and the cosmic dance of creation and destruction.
- The lives and teachings of Hindu deities like Vishnu, Shiva, and the Divine Mother.
- The principles of Dharma and the importance of righteous living.
- The power of devotion and the path to spiritual enlightenment.
- The cyclical nature of time and the journey of the soul.
- The rich tapestry of Indian culture, including mythology, philosophy, art, and religion.
Whether you are a student of Hinduism, a seeker of spiritual wisdom, or simply someone fascinated by ancient myths and legends, “Echoes of Eternity” offers a profound and engaging exploration of the Puranas, their timeless wisdom, and their enduring relevance in the modern world.
Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire
by Anirudh Kanisetti
The great empire of the Cholas was unexpected. It sprouted out of the blue in the Kaveri floodplain around 850 CE. Till then, the region had for centuries been dotted by self-governing village assemblies. From here, the Cholas established a vast empire, the first – and only – time an empire based in coastal South India was the dominant power of the a perch usually occupied by the Deccan or northern India.
The Cholas were as creative and imaginative as they were unexpected. They built stupendous temples – the tallest freestanding structures on earth after the pyramids of Egypt. Chola queens popularized new forms of gods and worship, such as the iconic Nataraja and the singing of Tamil poems to deities. And they were spectacularly daring, raiding not just the powerful Deccan and North India but also Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. For a dynasty that was so influential – and is so loved today – its actual historical achievements were surprisingly forgotten by the late nineteenth century, for they had faded into myth and legend.
In this book, the award-winning historian Anirudh Kanisetti brings to life the world of the Cholas. Not just the world of kings and queens attended by generals and ‘service retinue’ women – but the stories of the ‘little people’, whose lives were buffeted by big events. What was life like on board a merchant vessel making its way from the Tamil coast to Southeast Asia and China? What kind of food was served at temples to devotees and to soldiers in times of war? What became of a landless peasant who murdered his brother in a fit of rage? Why did a noble woman commit sati holding a lemon over her head? Based on thousands of inscriptions and hundreds of secondary sources, this deeply researched book is not just a procession of dazzling kings and queens but also a portal that transports us to the peasant settlements of over a thousand years ago. In this book, Kanisetti crucially separates fact from fiction and tells us one of the most extraordinary stories in human history.
The Circle of Life
by Sudha Murty
Uttara Rao, Janaki Paranjape, Arvind Shah, K. Subba Rao and Sumitra Iyer first cross each other’s paths at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1999. Coming from vividly different backgrounds, the five soon became friends. As they navigate relationships, careers and life, they vow to come back to the campus twenty-five years later.
A story of hardships, perseverance, success and disappointment, the book examines the lives of five friends as they look back and reminisce on how life turned out. Life has indeed come to a full circle for them. Inspirational and poignant, The Circle of Life is a moving story of five friends as they deal with life’s great expectations.
