A lmost a month after Shah Rukh Khan launched his biography, SRK - 25 Years of A Life, penned by filmmaker Samar Khan, Seema Sonik Alimchand, daughter of music composer, Sonik, of the musical duo, Sonik-Omi, released Deedara, a book on the life of the late wrestler-actor, Dara Singh. It was two years ago, when Seema was visiting the village Baba Bakala, which is close to the late veteran's hometown, Dharmuchak, in Punjab, that the idea for the book took form.“The locals were constantly talking about Dara Singh,“ she recounts, adding, “Not many know that he belonged to a farmer's family and had dropped out of school at six to work in the fields. The book also talks about how he travelled to Singapore to earn a living and his initiation into wrestling.“

Now, Mirror has learnt that five new biographies are set to hit stands. San Francisco-based journalist Rituparna Chatterjee who is co-writing Nawazuddin Siddiqui's memoir remembers being blown away by the 42-year-old actor's character Tehmur in Reema Kagti's 2012 thriller, Talaash, while on maternity leave in California. “He played it so brilliantly that the character stayed with me for months. Like some of the greatest characters in literature, for example, Uriah Heep and Miss Havisham, Tehmur had a creepy, haunting element about him,“ she notes. When she visited India a few years later, she talked about Nawaz with her editor, Premanka, and realised it'd be a brilliant book. “It's not so much about a Bollywood star as it is about an emotional man who has had a fascinatingly wide spectrum of experiences. His struggles, his sincerity, his stubborn pursuit of his dreams are things that every human can relate to. His childhood in Budhana is bursting with a plethora of colourful characters from a bygone era - reminiscent of one of my favourite films, Federico Fellini's Amarcord. The juxtaposition of these two lives is surreal; you'll find it in the book,“ she says.

Film journalist Roshmila Bhattacharya is writing the authorized biography of Manoj Kumar, which traces the journey of the filmmaker-actor from a shy boy to Mr Bharat who has come to epitomize patriotism in Hindi cinema. It offers entertaining insights about this year's Dadasaheb Phalke winner, like the trials he faced post-Partition after crossing over from Lahore, to his bonding with Bhagat Singh's mother during the making of Shaheed, from the slogan that inspired Upkar, to how Purab Aur Paschim motivated a plastic surgeon to chuck a flourishing career in the US and return to India. “It's been an enlightening journey for me too as with Manoj saab, his family, friends and colleagues. I've seen the evolution of a genre which has stood the test of time and every Republic and Independence Day still brings its hero to the front with chartbusters like 'Mere Desh Ki Dharti', 'Mere Rang De Basanti Chola' which have not only made Manoj Kumar the face of a desh bhakt India but also kept the spirit of nationalism alive on screen long after it has fizzled out for real,“ says Roshmila.

Film journalist Meena Iyer who is co-writing Rishi Kapoor's autobiography informs that there is a lot about the 64-year-old actor that we don't know and will find in the book. “His Twitter bio, it reads 'Son of a famous FatherFather of a famous Son. I am the hyphen in between them'. This book walks through that journey, beginning from his grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor, father Raj Kapoor, to himself and then his son Ranbir. Besides the importance of his father and mother Krishna in his life, there's also a chapter on the actor introducing as many as 12 new faces after he was stuck with either Neetu Singh or Moushumi Chatterjee as onscreen heroines when his first co-star, Dimple Kapadia, settled for marital bliss,“ says Meena.

Actor Kabir Bedi is also in the process of writing his biography. “My book is still a work in progress. It's about my journey from Bollywood to Hollywood via Italy and Europe. It will have private insights into all my public relationships. It will also trace my mother's journey to become the highest ranking Buddhist nun, and my father's journey as a freedom fighter and philosopher. It will have interesting stories from my life,“ he informs.

Journalist Poonam Saxena who is co writing Karan Johar's memoir, decides to keep it short. “The book will feature his childhood tales, his journey as a filmmaker and his personal life,“ she concludes.