Passion and enthusiasm are uplifting and contagious traits. And it is the warmth of these qualities that you bask in as you read Bollywood Melodies by Ganesh Anantharaman.

In the introduction to the book, the author confesses that he set out to write a book about the Bollywood music he truly loved – the music of the 1950s and 1960s – and had to be convinced by his editors to expand the scope to cover a much broader timeline form 1935 to 2005. As you read the book, the author’s bias becomes obvious and strangely, it is this bias that makes the book fascinating. We share the excitement and the sense of discovery of the songs of a bygone era with the author and we experience his disappointment at an entire decade (the 1980s) during which music did not matter in Bollywood.

The book has three sections and each section has several chapters describing the careers of music directors, lyricists and singers in chronological order. The book does include some personal details of the artists but only in the context of their careers. The author describes their career milestones through the songs they were involved in and this makes for fascinating reading. The book is a treasure trove of trivia like this:

• C. Ramachandra received the lyrics for Dheere Se Aaja Ri Akhiyan Mein (Albela) at 4 pm. He composed the music for this song in the car on the way to the studio because the recording was scheduled at 6 pm.
• Lata never sang for OP Nayyar due to an early misunderstanding between the two.
• The been sound in Man Dole Mera Ta Dole (Nagin) was actually produced by a keyboard instrument called claviolin played by Kalyanji (of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo).
• Sahir Ludhiyanvi had written “Tadbeer Se Bigadi Hui” as a ghazal and was shocked when he heard SD Burman’s frothy composition for it. He apparently protested but eventually gave in.
• Although playback singing was prevalent by then, KL Saigal insisted on singing Babul Mora Naihar Chooto Hi Jaaye as he walked on the streets while a truck behind him recorded the song live!
• Lata boycotted the Filmfare Awards till 1957 because they did not have a category for singers. Finally, Filmfare relented and gave her the award for Best Playback Singer for Aaja Re Pardesi (Madhumati) in 1958. Lata convinced Filmfare to institute separate awards for male and female singers next year.

This book is a must-read for all Bollywood music lovers. After the first few chapters, I realized that the best way to enjoy this book is to actually listen to the songs being described in the book while reading. Through listening the song, you become a part of the story behind it.