100 Films to See Before You Die  (English, Paperback, Anupama Chopra)

Official Flipkart Review:

Anupama Chopra is one of the doyens of the Indian Film Critics board, if there ever was something like this. When a viewer watches, “The Front Row” every Friday on Star World, he or she expects film reviews of a certain quality. More than anything else, what matters is the way she reviews a film. To a very large extent, she takes into account every single element of filmmaking – from the angle of the camera, to the expression of the characters, to the dialogue delivery when required. A lot of it I guess comes from understanding cinema so closely, that she can also translate the skill to a movie made in any language.

She did that with her “”100 Films to Watch before You Die”, a Mumbai Mirror column, where she would take a movie every week and talk about it and why it was one of her favourites. She would then also add some trivia about it. This is now a book published by the Times Group and it is nothing but a collection of 100 must-watch films before you die. The book is not constricted to Bollywood alone. It covers world cinema, Hollywood and some regional cinema as well. It is great as a reference point if you want to watch something by the great directors, but do not know where to start or what to watch.

Anupama Chopra provides an exclusive list of films from all over the world that must be seen by every film connoisseur in 100 Films To See Before You Die.

Summary Of The Book

Anupama Chopra’s 100 Films To See Before You Die is a book that brings together some of the greatest films ever to be produced. From Sholay to Cinema Paradiso, and Charulata, Chopra provides critical insight as to why these movies are on the must-watch list.

These films are selected from all corners of the world and have been selected since they are considered timeless classics by the author. Every film is an example of cinematic brilliance and Chopra notes that these do create an impact. The author provides a subjective perspective and these are films which have left an indelible mark in Chopra’s viewing experience.

This book also shares some never-before-heard film trivia such as Anand’s shooting took about 20 days to complete. Yash Chopra’s Deewar was shot only during the night since Amitabh Bachchan was also shooting for Sholay during the day. The tickets for Mughal-E-Azam was sold for hundred rupees despite the original ticket price being Rs. 1.50

The films cover a range of emotions from sadness, joy, happiness, anticipation to different genres such as comedy, romance, tragedy and more. Whether it is Bicycle Thieves, Cinema Paradiso or Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, the list is guaranteed to move anyone. This list also contains some of India’s finest art house cinemas such as Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Arth which starred Shabana Azmi and Om Puri. These films were not just commercial successes, but also raised important questions such as the position of women in society and the need for democracy in a corrupt country.

100 Films To See Before You Die contains some of the most entertaining films of all times and with the completion of 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013, this book becomes an important guide for cinema enthusiasts.

About Anupama Chopra

Anupama Chopra is an Indian author, anchorwoman and film critic. Her published work includes Sholay: The Making of a Classic, King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan And The Seductive World Of Indian Cinema, and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

She was born in 1967 in Kolkata, India. Her mother was a noted scriptwriter who had written for Chandni and Prem Rog. She graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, and studied journalism at Northwestern University. She has written extensively about films and also hosted several review shows. Her book, Sholay: The Making of a Classic won the National Film Award for Best Book in 2001, and King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and The Seductive World Of Indian Cinema featured in The New York Times Book Review. She has been published in The New York Times, India Today, The Los Angeles Times and Vogue India. She currently hosts The Front Row on Star World. She lives with her filmmaker husband, Vidhu Vinod Chopra.