The 75-year-old debonair actor Kabir Bedi is leaving no stone unturned to launch his autobiography – ‘Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor’. Earlier this month, Bedi had unveiled the book cover along with superstar Salman Khan in a virtual event.
And into the bargain, the book is scheduled to be virtually launched today i.e., April 19, 2021 at 6:30 PM by celebrated actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Incidentally, Both Kabir and Priyanka are regarded as some of the few Indian actors who have carved a niche in International cinema. And both have authored their own autobiographical books.
The Sherwood College alumni Kabir Bedi’s autobiography reportedly narrates his life’s personal and professional vicissitudes, which he described as raw, real, and revelatory. He had purportedly written the book in six months during the pandemic and spent another two months for revision.
Said to be narrated in a non-linear style, the book would ostensibly make the readers aware about his exciting yet relatively unknown stories in Bollywood, Hollywood, and his experience with European cinema.
The 324-page hardcover version of the book will be available for sale from today most likely at a discount price against the MRP of Rs.699/-. At Amazon’s portal, we also had a free preview/sneak-peek of the first few pages of each chapter.
Bedi had dedicated the book to all young techies like his son Siddharth (now deceased). The prologue to the book describes how the book will unfold. This includes his tumultuous journey as an actor, the successes he has seen, and the mistakes he had made.
The opening chapter of the book narrates his account of achieving an almost impossible task of interviewing ‘The Beatles’ in the 1960s during his stint as a freelance reporter at All India Radio. He did that very smartly. Along with the write-up, we got to see some adorable pictures of his childhood, etc.
The following chapter encapsulates his chance encounter with a beautiful model with whom he fell in love and later married – Protima Bedi, despite his initial apprehension. The text is followed by some more photos of ‘Sandokan’ shoot, Parveen Babi, and his son Siddharth.
The next chapter is about Bedi’s affection for the Gujarati beauty Parveen Babi followed by some pictures of Kabir Bedi as Corsaro Nero and Bedi in Spain and Italy, amongst others.
The fourth chapter makes the readers aware of his times in Kashmir and his parents – an Indian father and an English mother. He writes that his father was one of Sheikh Abdullah’s trusted advisors. Then more pictures follow of a young Kabir, his children Adam and Pooja, etc.
The next chapter is regarding a short story that he wrote: ‘Rumblings on a Beach’ when he was 29 years old. It is followed by his photos with Dalai Lama and with his wife Parveen Dusanj, etc.
The sixth chapter of the book is dedicated to his son Siddhartha’s serious mental disorder and how Bedi supported and cared for his son. This is followed by photos of Nikki Bedi, Omar Sharif, Michael Caine, Roger Moore, and Oprah Winfrey amongst others. This would perhaps have been one of the hardest chapters for Bedi to write about.
In the penultimate chapter, he describes his tryst with ‘Hollywood’ and the films and the television he did there. The chapter also includes his interactions with ‘Gandhi’ actor Ben Kingsley and ‘Ashanti’ co-star Michael Caine.
The final chapter is apparently a collection of iconic photographs and magazine covers mostly featuring the actor.
This was all about the glimpse we had at Kabir Bedi’s autobiography ‘Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor’. Before you get your hands on the book, let us give you a brief rundown about the actor’s cinematic career that spanned three continents.
Kabir Bedi started off his acting career as a stage actor and later made headway to the Hindi film industry. He made prominent appearances in Bollywood films such as Raj Khosla’s ‘Kuchhe Dhaage’ (co-starring Vinod Khanna) and the multi-starrer ‘Nagin’ (featuring Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Vinod Mehra, Sanjay Khan, and Rekha).
However, the international project which dramatically brought him into intercontinental limelight was the 1976 Italian period mini-series ‘Sandokan’, for which he become quite famous for playing the titular role of a pirate. The immensely praised show was followed by an Italian feature film ‘The Black Corsair’, where he again played the central character.
A few years later, he got another big break when he was cast in Roger Moore’s James Bond film ‘Octopussy’. In the film, Bedi effectively played the role of the villain’s henchman. Subsequently, he was cast in the second-most watched television soap-opera ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’.
Moreover, he also became known for doing roles in Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’ (starring Rekha), Feroz Khan’s ‘Yalgaar’ (starring Sanjay Dutt) and ‘Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story’, where he starred as Emperor Shah Jahan.
Some of his more recent performances were in the Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Blue’, Anurag Basu’s ‘Kites’ (starring Hrithik Roshan) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s period drama ‘Mohenjo Daro’ (starring Hrithik Roshan).
While his latest Bollywood film was Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3’ (Starring Sanjay Dutt and Jimmy Sheirgill).
Considering his extensive and diverse repertoire of films, and his vibrant yet valiant life story, Kabir Bedi’s autobiography ‘Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of An Actor’ is bound to be an interesting read.