In the bustling city of Mumbai, Akshay Manwani finds a peaceful corner to pen down books, essays and articles that have captivated the imagination of many readers. Manwani has an incredible way with words, which he successfully wields to pen out poignant pieces on Indian Cinema and Popular Culture. Manwani's first biographical book titled ‘Sahir Ludhianvi : The People’s Poet’, beautifully documents the life and work of the famous Urdu poet whose songwriting contributed heavily to the golden era of Hindi Music. Published by Harper Collins Publishers in 2013, Manwani immediately made a name for himself with his first bestseller.
When we sat down with Manwani ahead of Prime Day, we were granted a glimpse into his upcoming story titled ‘More Than the Angry Young Man: The Films of Salim-Javed’. The screenplay writing duo responsible for films like ‘Sholay’, ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, ‘Don’ are easily one of the best Indian screenwriters the industry has ever seen. In his piece on them, Manwani wants to revisit the ‘angry young man’ trope in their writing and look at it from a different lens. It is perhaps this modern approach to movies of the past that Manwani brings, that makes his writing standout.
A book, an article always opens a new window or lends a new perspective about something that we may already know about
As an author and a voracious reader, he preaches extensive reading to anyone who will listen, because he believes that books and stories have the potential to broaden the horizons of our mind. "A book, an article always opens a new window or lends a new perspective about something that we may already know about," says Manwani. He emphasizes the importance of being in touch with the world around us, beyond borders and barriers. Reading and accumulating information is the only way to remain updated on the various developments happening around us.
Having written for both print and digital media, Manwani has interesting insights on how to approach these two mediums differently. He claims that the print medium always comes with an implication of a word limit, that puts pressure on the writer to be concise. "The digital medium allows writers to be a little more self indulgent. They can also put forth a theory that they may hold back on in print, simply because they are worried about word limit. You can give more detail in digital," says Manwani.
Manwani is also the author of ‘Music, Masti, Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Husain’, available on Amazon India. His books have earned rave reviews and his knowledge of Indian Cinema has translated effortlessly into several pieces he has written for popular publications like Caravan, Mumbai Mirror, Business Standards and more.
A lesser known fact about Manwani is that apart from being an author, he is also an ardent NBA follower and a commentator. His instagram feed is littered with shots from his other passion, wildlife photography. A man of many talents, watch out for Manwani’s works available on Amazon India, this Prime Day,
