BOLLY TALKIES: Book review

Book Cover: Author's Copyright

“India has two religions- Bollywood and Cricket”

Archana Srivastav’s BOLLY TALKIES has recently been released in the #BlogchatterEbookCarnival by Blogchatter with other 62 amazing books. Non-fiction and especially Bollywood has been a popular genre in India of late, the audience/readers always look forward to knowing more about film, characters and the people who play these characters in these films.

Bollywood is definitely a magical realm where everything becomes larger than life as if by some magic. , even life itself! The out of this world heroines, the superhero-like heroes, the legendary villains all have played a role in establishing Bollywood as the “Baap” of entertainment in India. Though sometimes it does perpetuate stereotypes, and on other occasions, it dares to break them as well.

Archana is an MBA Graduate, Former HR Professional, Former Management Faculty, she thoroughly enjoyed her working career till 2015, after which she took a break from working, but her love and enthusiasm for Hindi films is evident in each chapter of the book.

Archana says in the blurb –

“The book is an assortment of a list of famous Bollywood movies. There are twenty-six chapters in this book, the names will either be of a character from the movie, the movie, or a collection of similar characters.”

While some chapters are dedicated to one character in one film several others have references to more than one like the one about friendships in films. The highlight of each chapter is not the brief synopsis of the plot or the character but the second half where the author speaks about the lessons learned from the film, the takeaways, and the eye-opener points. These reflect on a variety of themes from life lessons to parenting, about character building, relationship advice, and more, making the format innovative and engaging for the reader.

The language is easy and every day with a solid peppering of Hinglish and quotes from Bollywood. Some chapters like “XTRA Dose Of Laughter” and “Second Inning Of YESTER YEAR'S Actors” are a surprise as they compile the punch of a lot of legendary characters/actors and films into one.

The author walks us through films and characters that, in her opinion, have been game-changers in some way. The reader might have different opinions about these and might not consider these as the best films or characters but they made an impact and changed mainstream cinema in some manner. They influenced viewers, perceptions about common beliefs but also how filmmakers and film-making practices have evolved.

This book provides an insightful tour of the glamour and variety of Indian cinema along with profiles of characters, insights into subjects, some lesser-known facts, and how each of these became path-breaking.

The book is for all Bollywood enthusiasts and even those who want a peek into what makes Bollywood such a dominant sub-text in who we are as a society and a country. It is a light-read suitable for all age-groups above pre-teens and gives enough food for thought about films as a change-making art form.

The author can be reached at archana.sahay9@gmail.com

Toxic Friendships during Pandemic #MentalHealth

Our friends are supposed to be our well-wishers standing by us no matter what. However, they can also be our worst enemies reveals a recent poll that looks at toxic friendship. According to the poll eight in ten of us put up with people who cause more harm than good. While a recent survey indicates that 84 percent of women struggle with so-called ‘toxic friends’ who are self-absorbed, emotionally draining, critical, or backstabbing. Sixty-five percent of those polled complained of having a self-obsessed friend, and 59 per-cent accused their closest acquaintances of being emotional ‘vampires’ — draining all their energy reserves.


The poll, of 18,000 women and 4,000 men by an international magazine found just over half had an over-critical friend, while 45 percent reported backstabbing behavior and barbed comments. Though a third admitted that they would end a friendship with someone who was untrustworthy, 83 percent said that they had let a friendship drag on longer than it should have done because the prospect of ‘breaking up’ was too daunting. Instead, 37 percent blocked those they didn’t like on a social networking site, while 53 ‘downgraded’ friends from people they saw regularly to just occasionally.

Social Distancing and Toxic Friendships


This period of social distancing may increase our loneliness, but it’s really only exacerbating a problem that’s been building for years. Five toxic friend personality types -

• Self-absorbed
• Emotional vampires
• Over-critical
• Backstabbing
• Unreliable

5 signs someone is toxic on Social Media:



●︎ You feel anxious or sad when you see their posts.

●︎ You find yourself playing the comparison game. And ultimately putting yourself down for not being as successful, as attractive, as fit, as bold, etc.

●︎ You’re only following the person in order to “stalk” or keep up with their life. Like a past friend or an ex-significant other or friends of an ex.

●︎ You find yourself starting to avoid or continue scrolling when you see their handle pop up in your feed.

●︎ Their posts appear to be negative or hostile. Especially if it seems like their thoughts/posts demonstrate all-or-nothing or black and white thinking.


The key is knowing that you are in control of the content you see, and it’s OK to make changes that benefit your personal wellbeing.

This post is part of Blogchatter #CauseAChatter