New Delhi: Reading seems to be the latest hobby for Bollywood A-listers. Saif Ali Khan, who has often been photographed reading books at the palatial Pataudi House, shared his book recommendations recently.
In an interview with Esquire India, he listed out some of his best reads this year. Nilanjana Roy’s Black River is the top recommendation on his eclectic list.
“It’s kind of a police procedural murder mystery, but it’s also really emotional and kind of moving about the murder of a very young little girl,” said Khan. The actor added that he loved the story so much that he ended up buying the rights to it and is trying to turn it into a film. Khan has previously acted in other book adaptations, such as Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Othello, and the critically acclaimed Netflix adaptation of Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games.
He explained that what appealed to him was how the book describes itself as an “ode to an India that might not exist anymore.”
Khan also recommended a collection of short stories titled Japanese Ghost Stories by the Irish author Lafcadio Hearn. The author, who had a challenging childhood after being abandoned by his parents, ended up moving to Japan. Khan explained that it was there he met and married his wife, and learnt more about Japanese culture. That prompted him to write popular ghost stories of Japan, but in his own signature prose.
The Bollywood actor’s final recommendation was Natalie Haynes’ Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, a feminist take on women in Greek mythology. He explained that the book defends all the women who have been viewed as monstrous in one way or another through the male gaze and how it is a warped way of thinking.
“Medusa was raped in a temple and then punished for being raped. That is the worst thing. I have always felt something for her,” said the actor, on a pensive note.
‘Bookstagrammer’ Hrithik Roshan
Khan’s contemporary, Hrithik Roshan, has also been sharing his recent reads on Instagram this year.
The actor’s latest book post from 18 December is George Orwell’s classic, 1984.
“A part of me wishes I had never read this one! Now that I have seen it, I can never unsee it! Nobody read this. Please just don’t. Trust me. Don’t” read the caption to the post.
In another post from earlier this month, he called Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary the “best science fiction book ever.”
“Hope the movie lives up to this. The trailer was good in the sense that they didn’t really ‘show’anything! Ryan Gosling looks and acts unbelievably good as Mr Grace. Don’t see this coming naturally to him (or me). Not so sure about his space friend tho. Damn, I hope they get him right. What an amazing read tho !! Super stuff,” he added.
Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy also featured on the actor’s reading list.
“Confirmed everything I ever suspected about the way the universe works,” wrote Roshan.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)