The 1980s. In Hindi cinema, it was the decade of the dark and powerful policedrama Ardh Satya. It was the decade of the kitschy excess of the action comedyHimmatwala. It was a decade of opposites.It was a time when the best of NewWave 2.0 won acclaim and awards across theglobe, and B-grade'sex films' drew crowds into rundown small-town theatres;when ridiculous lyrics set to'disco music' created massive chartbusters, and thepoetry of Kabir, Tulsidas and Faiz also found space in film songs.It was a time when Amitabh Bachchan's injury had all of India praying for amiracle; when Peter Pan Jeetendra was spending more time shooting in Madrasthan in Bombay; when Rekha still ruled but Sridevi was rising to superstardom;when Naseer, Shabana, Om and Smita were the Fab Four of arthouse cinema;when the flamboyant dancing stars Mithun and Govinda brought a whole newaesthetic to Bollywood; when North and South met and mated like never before.It was a time of furious change beyond the silver screen, too: video cassettesbrought cinema to drawing rooms and bedrooms; television and one-day cricketemerged as fierce competition to films; piracy put movie theatres in crisis; filmstars were elected to the Indian Parliament in surprising numbers.In this thoroughly researched and entertaining book, Avijit Ghosh, author of theacclaimed bestsellers Cinema Bhojpuri and 40 Retakes, narrates the fascinating story ofperhaps the most eventful, disruptive and transformative decade of Hindi cinema.