Edited By: Manek Premchand
Genre : Cinema/Biography
Binding : Hardcover (12.2″ x 9.25″ x 3″)
Pages : 198 pages – Illustrated
Published : 2024
ISBN: 978-81-943921-9-4

The meteoric rise — followed by the sudden death — of Shyam, one of Hindi Cinema’s finest actors in mid-20th century, is the kind of stuff that usually belongs to the world of fiction. Had he lived longer, Shyam would have joined the illustrious company of popular actors such as Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, and Raj Kapoor.
Shyam — A Star Forgotten is an effort to chronicle the life and times of the remarkable artist. His story needs to be told, and who better to tell it than his nephew Bimal Chadha, for whom this was a labour of love running into decades.
The richly illustrated book features rare and unseen pictures of Shyam from his youth and college days, family photos and photos with his wife and daughter, posters and film stills. It also has his filmography.
TJ Natarajan –
Nectar of an untiring effort !Bimal Chadha, Bimal Sir for me, was more than a Facebook friend to me. A powerhouse of knowledge, excellent command on different languages, a guardian like approach with that twinkle in his eyes will always remain in my memories and I shall always cherish however little time I spent with him in person. Before he could see his passionate work taking shape of a book God called him back to his heavenly abode. We are indebted to his family who ensured that his work takes shape of an aesthetically designed and printed book by Blue Pencil.
Regarding his uncle Shyam, a film artist, I had little knowledge before going through this book authored by Bimal Sir. Thank you Antara, thank you Manek Premchand, Veena Ji, Monica, Akshay and those who made it possible.
Finally I was really thrilled when I saw one of my photographed of Bimal Sir, which I clicked in 2016 when I was in Delhi, finding a place in this book.
A collector’s and film enthusiasts’ must have book.