Chills Thrills And Spooks

Hindi movie fans may well run into millions, but few can match Dhruv Somani’s fascination for Bollywood flicks. It has not just seen the aficionado watch numerous films, but also painstakingly collect memorabilia of hundreds of films since childhood. Somani’s enchantment, however, revolves largely around the suspense, horror and thriller genres— unconventional and independent-minded that he is—and this fascination continues to this day. Now a textile baron and father of three, his passion has led him to pen a four-volume anthology of over 300 films that was unveiled recently at The St Regis, in Mumbai. Titled A Touch of Evil and published by Spenta Multimedia Pvt Ltd, the series captures the essence of the suspense, horror and thriller genres over a seven-decade period, celebrating both landmark and little-known films. Enlivened with over 500 colourful images of posters, lobby cards and press books and peppered with interesting trivia, A Touch of Evil provides synopses, casts and credits of numerous films, making it a must-have for movie lovers, researchers, collectors and information seekers. In a Q&A with MARWAR, Somani talks about his business, his huge fascination for horror and suspense films, his family and more.

- Joseph Rozario

You are basically a businessman. What do you do and in what capacity?

I come from a traditional Marwari business family and I currently look after our companies, Navjeevan Synthetics Pvt Ltd and Excel Craft Pvt Ltd, in the capacity of a director. I am responsible for the operations of these businesses and the general working of the organisation. Our company Navjeevan Synthetics is a textile manufacturing and processing house that is engaged in various activities like manufacturing, dyeing, processing, printing, etc, of various fabrics. Excel Craft is into manufacture of capital goods for the wire and cable industry, and here I function more as a managerial decision maker, as the unit is more or less handled by a team of handpicked professionals, who are the best in the industry and have been with us for more than a decade.

How and why did you take to writing?

I’ve had this huge, huge fascination for films from childhood, especially for the suspense, horror and thriller genres. This fascination grew over the years, until I started to feel the urge to write about them, as nobody had written much about them till then. And then, one fine day, I took an empty book and I started writing. I started writing about the first film, and then the next, and I didn’t stop after that. Also, I feel, the ability to write and express yourself is to know and experience the greatest freedom of all. There is no better way to express your imagination and thoughts—to empower yourself and your audience.

What is A Touch of Evil about? What inspired you to write it? Is this your first book?