Audiobooks by Kishwar Desai

The Longest Kiss: The Life and Times of Devika Rani

"''The Longest Kiss is as much a story of the setting up of Indian cinema as it is the story of the actress who became a studio head...'' - Anjana Basu, Outlook Traveller ''Desai has managed to write a book that will appeal to lovers of both cinematic history and filmi gossip.''- Chintan Girish Modi, Hindustan Times ''Her life is the stuff of films... The star struck as well as film historians will find much to relish in her story.'' - Anjana Basu, Outlook Traveller ''The studio is gone but Desai's book will make that period come alive for you.''- Chintan Girish Modi, Hindustan Times She was India's first international superstar in the 1930s and 1940s. Astonishingly beautiful, prodigiously talented and a great-grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore, Devika Rani earned rave reviews for her first film, Karma. Shortly afterwards, she married Himansu Rai, and together they set up India's first truly professional studio, Bombay Talkies. Over the next few years, the studio became the launch pad for some of India's best-known talent, including Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis and Dilip Kumar. After Himansu's controversial death in 1940, Devika took over Bombay Talkies. She ran the studio with a steel hand, squashing all rebellion and constantly walking a tightrope when it came to the men around her. Then, one day, she met the handsome and reclusive Svetoslav Roerich, and, just like in a Hindi film, nothing was ever the same again. Devika died as she had lived, in the midst of controversy, and an enigma to most. In The Longest Kiss, for the first time, through her letters and documents, is pieced together the life that she kept away from the world. The romance and the abuse that characterized her marriage with Himansu, the struggle of being a woman at the helm of a hyper-male domain, the circuitous ways in which cinema found its feet in Bombay, and the soaring happiness and tragedy of a life lived on the edge, always."

Kishwar Desai (Author), Ratnabali Bhattacharjee (Narrator)

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Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story

"It has been a century since the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, but Punjab is still to recover from the shock of it. The British Empire never did either-the impact of those bullets fired for ten minutes at an unarmed, peaceful crowd inside a community park with one narrow exit rang through its remaining years in India. Yet, the true horror of the event itself has been forgotten, as also the volatile atmosphere in Punjab at the time. What was the catalyst for the events of that day and how did it become a turning point in India's struggle for independence? Why did the British feel the need to impose martial law on Amritsar, which had shown little inclination for violence, despite provocation? What do we know about the individuals whose lives spun out of control on 19 April 1919, never to recover? Why did the people of Punjab suffer barbaric punishments, including public flogging, torture and even bombing, unknown to the rest of the world? These are the questions fuelling the research that eventually gave shape to this meticulous and determined reconstruction of that crucial day, and the events which followed. Based on the reports of the Hunter Committee and the Indian National Congress, as well as other historical documents, Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story provides a sharp analysis of General Dyer's actions and their fallout-the official narrative and the Indian counter-narratives."

Kishwar Desai (Author), Shivani Vakil Savant (Narrator)

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The Sea of Innocence

"The thrilling new adventure starring Kishwar Desai’s enthralling heroine, Simran Singh Simran Singh is desperate for a break and so the idyll of Goa seems perfect - white beaches, blue seas and no crime. But when a video appears on her phone, featuring a girl being attacked by a group of men, she realises that darkness festers in this supposed paradise. And when she discovers out that the girl is Liza Kay, a British teenager who has gone missing, she knows she must act."

Kishwar Desai (Author), Vayu Naidu (Narrator)

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Origins of Love

"In Delhi a small baby lies alone and abandoned. The product of IVF and surrogacy, she had been so coveted - until she was born with a fatal illness. Thousands of miles away in London, Kate and Ben are desperate for a baby. As Kate suffers another miscarriage, she knows something has to change. But will her desire for a baby stop at nothing...? 'Desai's Simran Singh novels are endowed with something else: the sense that she is delving not just into mysteries but into subjects that matter deeply.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY"

Kishwar Desai (Author), Lyndam Gregory, Multiple Narrators, Penelope Rawlins, Sam Dastor, Vayu Naidu (Narrator)

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