“There could not have been a better classroom for learning how to write a film,” writes Ghai.

It was Prasad who also gave tips to Ghai about how to choose a title for a film. “He taught me that a title should be simple, full of meaning, and acceptable to families,” writes Ghai. “He once told me a film’s title should be such that a son or daughter would not hesitate to say to their father while stepping out for a show. It should not be Nangi Jawani or some thing like that.”

Ghai has a heart of gold. When he set up his production company, Mukta Arts, named after his wife, he ensured that the technicians who worked for him received more than the market rate. In case a film was a hit, the technicians’ salaries went up by 20 per cent. If it was poor, salaries still went up by 10 per cent. “If I stand on a stage and say that my success is the team’s success, I have to truly share this success with the team,” he writes.

This is a book that abounds in anecdotes and keeps the reader gripped throughout. You get an idea of the Bollywood of the 80s and 90s and of the background stories of Ghai’s films like Vidhaata, Hero, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khal Nayak, Pardes and Taal. You understand what a director experiences as he travels through the minefield of getting an idea, writing a script, finding the producer and the actors, and then making the film against innumerable odds.

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