“A filmmaker is stripped naked in his stories” – this quote by legendary director Raj Khosla deeply influenced his protégé, Mahesh Bhatt.

“Raj sahab is such a star. Though he is long gone, his light still shines through me. When I guide young filmmakers today, I hear his voice in my own,” writes the filmmaker in the foreword of the biography of Raj Khosla penned by Amborish Roychoudhary with Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur.

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Khosla, as described in the introduction to his biography, is a relatively unknown figure outside of the circles of serious film buffs. His contributions to the world of Bollywood and the Hindi film industry at large were so crucial that we would not be able to imagine its state without him. Khosla preferred to be behind the camera rather than in front of it.

Roychodury, in his introduction, states that even his friends were unaware of the sheer scope of Khosla’s contributions to Hindi cinema before he posted a collage of some of his most iconic songs. The man, the creator of path breaking films like “CID”, “Solva Saal”, and “Woh Kaun Thi”, was a gem hidden amongst his more camera-friendly peers.

Born in Sri Hargobindpur, a small hamlet in Punjab, Khosla’s family moved to Bombay when he was a child. Here, he attended the Anjuman – I – Islam school, making him proficient in Urdu, especially Urdu poetry. Khosla idolized singer K L Saigal, and wished to follow in his footsteps. Upon meeting his hero, he was told by him that one day, Khosla would sing in his voice, a truly prophetic statement.

The rest of the book follows his journey through Bollywood – with a failed stint at the Punjab National Bank, his passion for films only grew. His first job in the film industry was that of a stunt double for a heroine, a job he was paid 75 rupees for, which was the beginning of a truly illustrious career.

Khosla’s first tryst with real stardom came in 1946, when director C.L. Dheer cast him in Raen Basera – a piece of lost media today. Later, through pure chance, he was acquainted with Dev Anand, a friendship that would translate into a series of collaborations. This friendship also introduced Khosla to Guru Dutt, the director who would be his mentor in the realm of film direction.

Considered a “women’s director” due to the fleshed out female characters he portrayed in a time when actresses were usually relegated to “damsel-in distress’ roles, Khosla was a pioneering force in the Hindi film industry.

His biography is a work of art suited to the man who, as per Mahesh Bhatt’s foreword, is rightly described as one of the greats of Indian cinema, and who, truly, deserves nothing less.

Another relationship the author focuses on is the one between Khosla and Guru Dutt. What started out as a simple mentor-mentee arrangement slowly blossomed into a beautiful friendship that lasted till Dutt’s untimely demise in 1964. Geeta and Guru Dutt were even present for the intimate wedding ceremony of Raj Khosla, and after Dutt’s death, he was often found weeping in front of the large portrait of the man in his office, says the book.

Bhatt also recalls a quote Khosla relayed to him while likening fame to starlight, saying -”The light is the message, but the star, the messenger is gone.” Bhatt calls Khosla such a star, expressing his story as larger than “any single telling.”