Bollywood's greatest moments, now available in print

During the release of the book, "3 Idiots -- The Original Screenplay", the film's producer-director Vidhu Vinod Chopra said that the screenplay should not only be read to understand his popular 2009 Hindi film, but that "reading a screenplay itself is an enjoyment". A new selection of screenplays or dialogue books on significant Indian films now include interviews with members of the cast and crew, trivia and commentary on the making of the films and address one of the biggest problems in the history of Indian cinema: inadequate archiving. 

Invaluable treasures and important voices have been lost over time. Efforts by people like Chopra, author Nasreen Munni Kabir and publishers like Seagull (who publish Satyajit Ray's screenplays), Om Books and Niyogi Books are going some distance towards bridging this gap. 

"If I saw these books 30 years ago when I started my research on Indian cinema, I would have jumped for joy!" says Kabir, who has written dialogue books for Indian movie classics such as "Mughal-E-Azam", "Mother India" and "Awaara" and is currently crafting the dialogues of Guru Dutt's "Pyaasa". 

Last year Vinod Chopra Films launched a division committed do the archiving of screenplays as books.

The first two publications were based on two of company's most successful movies "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" and "3 Idiots" but plans are on to bring out screenplay books on Guru Dutt classics "Kaagaz Ke Phool", "Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam" and "Chaudvin Ka Chand" as well as Chopra productions "Munnabhai MBBS" and "Parinda".

"The idea is to get as many screenplays out in the market as possible so that there is something for film students to reference," says Smriti Kiran who conceptualized, compiled and wrote the "3 Idiots" book and is currently working on the "Munnabhai MBBS" and "Parinda" publications. Among other noteworthy forthcoming screenplays is Onir Anirban's "My Brother Nikhil" (Yoda Press) next month. 

Dipa Chaudhuri, chief editor, Om Books International, says: "Each book needs to go beyond the screenplay, resurrect the context of the work-in-progress, the biographical carryovers, the behind the scenes reportage/photographs as well as the cinematic lineage in which a film situates itself to facilitate an 'intertexual' and 'intratextual' understanding of the film in question and the director's oeuvre. Dialogue books/screenplays are actually chronicles of our cinematic heritage."

Here's CNNGo Mumbai's pick of four must-have books for any Bollywood film buff, books you can actually buy, right now.

"The Dialogue of Awaara, Raj Kapoor’s Immortal Classic"

Concept, introduction, translation and commentary: Nasreen Munni Kabir

Published by Niyogi Books, Rs 1,250

Many would agree with actor Raj Kapoor’s son Randhir when he writes in the foreword, "I really don’t think Raj Kapoor has made a better film than Awaara." The book on the 1951 film features an introduction, meticulous translation and commentary by Nasreen Munni Kabir as well as a presentation of the screenplay and dialogs of the film in Roman, Hindi and Urdu scripts. The text places the film in its historical context, describing filmmaking in that era, providing information on Raj Kapoor's life and work and celebrates the screenwriters, V P Sathe and K A Abbas. In the commentary, Kabir writes that when Kapoor heard the narration, he booked the script with a one rupee signing amount. Information like this = gold for trivia buffs.

"The Dialogue of Mother India, Mehboob Khan's Immortal Classic"

Translator: Nasreen Munni Kabir

Published by Niyogi Books, Rs 1,250

"Mother India", starring Nargis, Raaj Kumar, Kanhaiyalal, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar and directed by Mehboob Khan, is considered one of Hindi cinema's finest films. While is it well known that the film was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1957, one of the things the book tells us is that Khan sent a truncated version to the Oscars. Kabir has presented the dialogs by Vajahat Mirza and S. Ali Raza and songs by Shakeel Badayuni in Hindi, Urdu, and Roman scripts. This celebrated classic gets the extensive and detailed commentary it deserves.

"Lage Raho Munna Bhai -- The Original Screenplay"

Published by Om Books, Rs 295

An introduction by screenwriter Abhijat Joshi provides information on the genesis of Indian socio-economic concepts like Gandhigiri and how Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy came to be an inspiration for lovable goon and protagonist Munna Bhai. This leads into the screenplay with dialogue in Roman transliteration, which can be distracting and does not fully capture the magic of the movie, however the script is so tight and the film so iconic, that you are willing to overlook this aspect. Contemporary filmmakers often cite Rajkumar Hirani's "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" as one of the finest scripts of this decade. The Washington Post described the film as, "A phenomenon that made Gandhi a pop icon". Lyrics, opening credits, end credits and profiles of the director, producer, writer and lyricist round off the book. It's slight, but well worth Rs 295.

"3 Idiots -- The Original Screenplay"

Published by Om Books, Rs 495

One of the biggest hits of the decade, "3 Idiots" is better known as the Aamir Khan film directed by Rajkumar Hirani than as the film based on Chetan Bhagat's bestselling novel "Five Point Someone". Here the screenplay and stage directions are in Roman, the dialogues in Hindi accompanied by the English subtitles. Many will want to flip right to the hilarious speech by the character Chatur on page 114, but do also read the question and answer sessions with the principal cast and crew. Co-writer Abhijat Joshi's essay "Things of Beauty" describes how a watch, among other inanimate things, became a pivotal object in the crafting of a scene to show students tools and tricks of the trade. Joshi writes, "… '3 Idiots' could not have been written without dreaming up hundreds of such objects. The most menial of these objects are, for me, a thing of beauty. They took our hollow scenes and filled them with humor or drama; they took our most abstract concepts and made them accessible."