Every Bollywood superstar deserves a worthy writer who can chronicle his journey, the crests, troughs and all, with elan and verve.

More so, Shah Rukh Khan, who emerged from outside the incestuous and insular Bollywood film industry to become its reigning superstar.

But Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood - and ultimately readers - get short-changed by Anupama Chopra in her new book King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema.

Although four years in the making, King of Bollywood reads like one of those cheap quickies that mediocre hacks churn out on topical subjects in illusory hopes of a shot at quick fame and a fast buck.

To millions in India and the diaspora outside, Bollywood and superstar Shah Rukh Khan are topical subjects at any time.

In thousands of cinema halls and millions of homes across India, people flock together daily to watch Bollywood movies, those lengthy and colorful riots of song, dance and drama.

In the U.S., Regal Cinemas in North Brunswick, South Plainfield and Burlington (all in New Jersey) and other theaters that screen Bollywood movies offer stiff competition to the ever-increasing numbers of Hindu temples in wooing Indian visitors.

Describing Bollywood as an element that unites a heterogeneous population, Anupama writes:

Hindi films function as a global glue, binding together Indians across gender, geography, religion, and age.

And to millions of Bollywood aficionados, lately there has been no bigger hero than Shah Rukh Khan.

As Anupama describes Shah Rukh Khan:

He is a modern-day God. On streets in India, his posters are sold alongside those of religious deities. Shrines have been erected in his name….Shah Rukh is bigger than Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt combined.

Shah Rukh Khan a.k.a. King Khan or SRK, has delighted Indians with blockbuster movies like Baazigar, Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Dil To Pagal Hai over the last 15 years or so.

Yes, King Khan’s no great actor and the superstar’s magic Continue Reading…