The Story of my book, I DID IT MY WAY, biography of Mr Rajan Lall

It is not every day that a book like this comes along. In the May of 2021, when Covid season was still around, I was the Editor in Chief of Filmfare Middle East and I was asked by the Franchise owner of Filmfare ME, Mr Rizwan Sajan to interview his friend Mr Rajan Lall.

Mr Lall had several Bollywood friends who lived with him in when they visited Dubai and he had roped in a few of them at our events back then. On a personal level, I had heard about him from my friends about his lavish parties and had met him briefly in 2019 during the Filmfare ME event in Oman.

Rajan Lall and Rengin

I met the distinguished Mr Lall at his villa at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai around June 2021. His aristocratic demeanor revealed a warm personality entrenched into the glorious days of Bollywood of the 60’s and 70’s. I put my recorder on and he spoke and leafed through the many albums, his mother had preserved so well. She was of Jewish origin and was a chartered accountant and a Sanskrit scholar and ran her own printing press. She had painstakingly labelled pictures dating back a 100 years – that included photos of her own parents, her in laws plus her family, the Bollywood guests and more.

Author Manju Ramanan and Rajan Lall

For a student of literature and an avid history lover, this was a treasure trove for me. As I glanced through the black and white pictures of Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Rajesh Khanna, Shammi Kapoor and more, I told him honestly, that 1200 word would hardly justify his life’s story and that he should write a book. By the end of the interview, he asked me if I would write it for him and I happily agreed.

Poonam and Shatrughan Sinha

Priya Dutt narrating of her her dad’s bond with Rajan Lall during the Mumbai launch

Then came the actual task – of meeting him on weekends and recording instances of from his life. You would know that when you narrate a story, you aren’t linear – you go back and forth in your memory. After a first few sessions, we decided to structure the whole book into chapters – right from his parents, to grand parents, his sibling, his extended family, his wife and more. The process took a few years and several sessions of conversations, recordings and newer stories unearthed each day.

Rajan Lall with close friends and guests of honor Jeetendra and Rakesh Roshan

The sessions were not regular since I went through a phase where I quit my job as Editor in Chief of Filmfare Middle East, there was some more delays due to Mr Lall’s travel, his ill health and more. But the book stayed waiting patiently for us to get back to it in the able hands of the maverick photographer Kamal who, skillfully took photographs of the 100 year old photos to be used in the book. It was then sent to designer Danish Rizvi who designed all the pages and it wasn’t a small task! Over copious sessions of where each photo would be placed, the book started taking shape. Now we had to click the cover photo. We found a flamboyant and feisty photographer in Dubai, Mr Gregory Grytehenko, who played the Frank Sinatra song I DID IT MY WAY in his Barsha studio while Mr Lall posed for pictures. When the pictures arrived, we unanimously narrowed down on the black jacketed picture that accentuated Mr Lall’s silver hair and his signature Sai Baba ring.

Editorially, the book had crossed 600 pages and it was then sent to India to be edited by Empire Books before being proof read by Prachiti Talati. Then came the task of finding a suitable publisher in the UAE – emails were written, trips to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi were made to find the right publishers and one day, in walked Mr Madhavan of Gulf Books who set a deadline and published the book. Then there was work on the AV that was to be added with the book, that was ably edited by the youngest member of the team, Huzaifa.

The Dubai launch – Solakhe Maharaj, the publisher Mr Madhavan, author Manju Ramanan, Rajan Lall, HE Consul General HE Satish Sivan, Vasu Sharif, Surinder Kandhari and Rizwan Sajan

On February 8th, 2025, the book was launched at KOKO Bay, West Beach, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai amidst great fanfare. After the head priest of the Shirdi temple Solakhe Maharaj blessed the event, the stage was taken over by dignitaries such as HE Consul General of India to the UAE , Mr Satish Sivan who launched the book along with guests of honor such as Dubai veteran Mr Vasu Shroff, Mr Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of the Danube Group, Mr Surinder Kandhari, Chairman, The Al Dubowi Group. Dubai’s. Bollywood directors Rakesh Roshan and Shashi Ranjan whose series The Roshans on Netflix has made waves were in attendance.

Gaggan Mudgal hosted the Dubai and Mumbai launch

Dubai’s much acclaimed host Gaggan Mudgal emceed the event that was managed by Rida Siraj with the publicity spearheaded by Tehzeeb Ahmed and supported by Vinita Hirani.

Rida Siraj, Tehzeeb Ahmed and Britti Shah at the Dubai launch

On March 1st, 2025 the book was launched in Mumbai at The Leela amidst great fanfare and a smattering of Bollywood stars that included Shatrughan Sinha who launched the book along with guests of honor – Jeetendra, Anupam Kher, Priya Dutt, Rakesh Roshan and Shashi Ranjan. The dignitaries felicitated on stage were Dinesh Nair, the Owner of The Leela, Mumbai, veteran actor Ranjit, Mr Ketan Desai and Mr Rajan Lall’s close friends and associates.

Anupam Kher poses with the book

The other stars and actors in attendance at the event included Poonam Dhillon, Shekhar Suman, Kiran Mehra and her son Rohan Mehra, Kunicka, Anu Ranjan, Siddharth Kak, Sonali Rathod and more. The event was designed and managed by Nimmitesh Malpekar and his team and the publicity brilliantly managed by Parul Chawla.

Parul Chawla managed the PR and publicity of the Mumbai launch

Nimittesh Malpekar managed the Mumbai launch

A book that took 4 years to be created got a befitting launch with the blessings of Sai Baba of Shirdi of whom Mr Rajan Lall is an ardent devotee, his mentors that includes his mother Ms Madhulata Lall and late actor and politician Sunil Dutt. A night to remember indeed!