Nico solves B-town mystries

It has the capacity of trapping almost everyone in its glamorous web and that's exactly what has happened to New York-based writer Nico Raposo, he's enmeshed deep in solving a Bollywood mystery. Nico, a screenplay writer, was recently on a three-city tour in India to promote his latest script dallianceu00a0-- a book series for young adults called Bollywood Knights. Nico talks to CS about how Bollywood is a part of his daily life even thousands of miles away:

Dil hai Hindustani
I first came to India nine years ago to visit my extended family as my wife's sister married an NRI whose family lives in India. The moment I landed in Mumbai, I knew I'd found my true home. Unlike New York, Mumbai is so alive. However, even back home in the Hudson Valley, it's almost like living in India as all of us get together on almost every long weekend. All my relatives love Bollywood and so, the conversation at the dinner table always revolves around B-town. My kids, nieces and nephews sing and enact Bollywood numbers. I remember, what furor the news of Abhishek-Aishwarya getting engaged created in my home!

Teen drama
And so, when I decided that I wanted to write a book for the young adults, I knew my subject would revolve around Bollywood. There's so much drama in the Hindi film industry that it's hard to miss. In my books, I've drawn certain similarities between real Bollywood actors and my characters, but the issues that these people have to deal with are what any other teenager may have to deal with. I've seen countless films to get the hang of Hindi cinema and I've spent almost eight months understanding the Indian teens and the way they talk and think.

Classic taste
My personal favourite Bollywood films are Lagaan, I've seen it around 20 times. Delhi Belly, Dhoom and Bunty Aur Babli are all-time favourites. And then, I can watch Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand's films countless times; they're classics.