Khalid Mohamed’s Debut Novel ‘The Aladia Sisters’ Launched By Om Books International

Jyothi Venkaetsh

Om Books International launched Khalid Mohamed's debut novel, The Aladia Sisters  on 07^th October, 2019. The novel was launched by Chief Guest, Bollywood Director Karan Johar and Guest of Honour Anil Kapoor, who spoke about Khalid Mohamed's immense contribution to Hindi cinema. On the occasion, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor, Khalid Mohamed, Javed Akhtar and publisher, Ajay Mago shared their experiences of putting together the book. Also present on the occasion were Asha Parekh, Lalita Lajmi, Maria Goretti, Anoop Soni, Juhi Babbar,  Rajniesh Duggall and Achint Kaur.

Traversing the era of the British Raj, the Partition and India’s Independence to the here and now of the Internet millennium, the story of six sisters of a patriarchal Muslim family, is investigated by a journalist. Before coming of age, the sisters had run away in the deep cover of the night from a Haryana village to define their lives and destinies and thus began an undeclared game of may-the-best-sister win. Earn money, express inchoate talents in the arts, hook the richest husband, raise the next generation right – these were just a scattering of their to-do list. Through confidences and vignettes, updates and interviews, the Mumbai journalist travels between Delhi, Ajmer, Mount Abu and London, to recreate the narrative of a confederacy of women who dared to break the rules way before they were written. The story – blending fact and fiction – could have been chronicled only by one journalist, the grandson of one of the sisters.  

Khalid Mohamed started as reviewer and co-editor during his teenage years, for Close-Up, a film society quarterly magazine. He then covered crime, politics and the arts for The Times of India, Mumbai, from the mid-1970s, engaged in daily reporting and film criticism. Appointed Media Editor of the paper, he went on to serve as editor of Filmfare magazine, while continuing as the daily’s film critic for 27 years. He reviewed television for The Economic Times besides contributing articles to The Illustrated Weekly of India and Femina. His writing has also been featured in India Today, The Indian Express, The Telegraph, the international film weekly, Variety, and in the Sunday Observer, London. He was film critic for Mid-day, Senior Editor of DNA newspaper, and National Culture Editor and film critic for the Hindustan Times.

A post-graduate in Political Science from Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College, he has translated eminent painter M.F. Husain’s autobiography – Where Art Thou? – from Hindi to English. He has written the original stories and screenplays for three films by Shyam Benegal: Mammo, Sardari Begum and Zubeidaa. He wrote the original stories and screenplays for the films, Fiza, Tehzeeb and Silsiilay and also directed them. He was playwright and director of the stage play Kennedy Bridge. His documentaries The Last Irani Chai, Little Big People on Mumbai’s street children, and The Master: Shyam Benegal, have been widely screened at international film festivals and on television. He has written two short story collections – Two Mothers and Other Stories and Faction: Short Stories by 22 Film Personalities

Says Ajay Mago, Publisher, Om Books International, “The Aladia Sisters is tribute to the novel as an art form. It a story that started germinating years ago, was cast into different art forms before being distilled into a novel spanning three generations. The canvas is vast, and the choices made by the protagonists—six sisters—caught at the crossroad of the nation’s and their personal histories, make it a novel reminiscent of the classics we grew up with.

One of the largest English language trade publishers in the Indian subcontinent, Ajay Mago’s Om Books International has been a name to reckon with for over five decades in the Indian publishing and retail industry. Headquartered in Noida, OBI has a diverse publishing list including cinema, biography, memoir, mind-body-spirit, photo essay, art, architecture, and lifestyle, fiction— commercial and literary. OBI has an equally strong and varied children and publishing programme under its imprint, OmKidz.

Khalid Mohamed, Publisher Ajay Mago and Lalita Lajmi

Aladia Sisters Cover

Achint Kaur and Khalid Mohamed

Rajniesh Duggall and Khalid Mohamed

Publisher Ajay Mago, Khalid Mohamed, Karan Johar, Javed Akhtar & Anil Kapoor

Publisher Ajay Mago, Javed Akhtar, Khalid Mohamed, Anil Kapoor & Karan Johar

Publisher Ajay Mago and Khalid Mohamed

Publisher Ajay Mago and Javed Akhtar

Khalid Mohammed

Khalid Mohamed, Anil Kapoor & Karan Johar

Javed Akhtar, Anil Kapoor and Karan Johar

Javed Akhtar, Anil Kapoor and Karan Johar

Asha Parekh, Javed Akhtar, Publisher Ajay Mago, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor & Khalid Mohamed

Asha Parekh, and Publisher Ajay Mago

Asha Parekh and Javed Akhtar

Anoop Soni and Juhi Babbar

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Asha Parekh, Javed Akhtar, Publisher Ajay Mago, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor, Khalid Mohamed, The Aladia Sisters