Yasser Usman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yasser Usman
Yasser Usman.jpg
Usman in 2017
Born1980s
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
NationalityIndian
Alma mater
OccupationBiographer, film critic, anchor, journalist

Yasser Usman (born 1980s) is an Indian television journalist, news presenter, author and biographer of film personalities. Born in Moradabad, his father M. Usman is a professor and college principal, while his mother Haseeba Khanam is a philanthropist. In the media, Usman has been described as one of India's most successful film biographers and noted for his writings that focused on the "dark side" of the country's Hindi film industry.[1][2] He is known for the biographies of contemporary actors, such as Guru Dutt, Rajesh Khanna, Rekha and Sanjay Dutt.

Biography[]

Yasser Usman was born in the 1980s in Moradabad.[3]:xii[4] His father, M. Usman, is a chemistry professor and college principal; his mother, Haseeba Khanam, is a philanthropist.[5] In his childhood, Usman had a hobby to read rented popular film magazines and books on Indian film actors.[1] He works as a journalist and television producer in Delhi.[4] After finishing his schooling in several cities of Uttar Pradesh, he moved to Delhi to attend the University of Delhi and the Ramjas College, graduating with Master of Science degree in environmental studies at the latter. He then joined the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, started a career with the television company B.A.G. Films & Media, and produced the crime television series Red Alert for Star News. Usman also worked as a creative producer for Channel 7, produced a reality sport show titled Speedster, hosted the weekly film review show Premier 7, and wrote and directed Raaz: Forensic Files Se (a weekly television show on forensic science in India).[5]

After resigned from Channel 7, he worked with the journalist Anirudh Bahl on an investigative show Benaqab and served as the creative consultant of The Tony B Show, a talk show aired on Channel V in 2006.[5][6] Usman joined Star News in 2007, specializing in the non-fiction programming part; he directed several documentaries about sports and biographies of political figures and film personalities. In addition to work as film critic and commentator, he hosted ABP News' digital show Cinema Uncut with Yasser Usman. In 2016, the website Filmymonkey, on which he served as the founding editor, was launched.[5]

Usman made his authorial debut in 2014 with the biographical book Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar, about the actor and politician Rajesh Khanna. The writing started when he was in Mumbai to record a show for ABP News and then hear about Khanna's death in 2012. It was released by Penguin Books on 5 December 2014,[7] and Vijay Lokapally from The Hindu labelled it as a "fine tribute" to Khanna.[8] Following the publication, Usman received handwritten letters and emails from Khanna's fans, saying that they were "surprised" about Khanna's loneliness. It motivated Usman to research other popular film stars' lives.[3]:ix[9] His next book, Rekha: The Untold Story, is a biography of the actress Rekha and he visited the National Film Archive of India to collect several archives of magazines about her. Released on 29 August 2016 under the Juggernaut Books company, the book was critically acclaimed; Bollywood Hungama found the book to be "entertaining", appreciating it for being "really well in sourcing a lot of quotes".[10][11]

His other two books: Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood's Bad Boy and Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story, also garnered positive reception from book reviewers. The former details the life of Sanjay Dutt; its main theme was inspired by Ivan Turgenev's 1862 novel Fathers and Sons.[4] Following the book's publishing on 13 March 2018 by Juggernaut Books, Mint's Sanjukta Sharma noted "it is impossible to write a biography of Bollywood figures impartially" and Film Companion listed it among the "seven books on cinema of the year".[12][13] Meanwhile, the latter chronicles about Guru Dutt's life and was published on 7 January 2021 by Simon & Schuster. Writing for The Hindu, the critic Mini Anthikad Chhibber appreciated Usman for "[peppering] the book with many touching remembrances from Guru Dutt's sister, the artist Lalitha Lajmi".[14]

Bibliography[]

  • Usman, Yasser (5 December 2014). Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-9-351-18875-9.
  • Usman, Yasser (29 August 2016). Rekha: The Untold Story. Juggernaut Books. ISBN 978-81-93284-18-6.
  • Usman, Yasser (13 March 2018). Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood's Bad Boy. Juggernaut Books. ISBN 978-81-93284-18-6.
  • Usman, Yasser (7 January 2021). Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-93-86797-89-6.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "On Nepotism and Casting 'Ouch' Moments". Juggernaut Books. 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  2. ^ Usman, Yasser (11 October 2018). "The curious life of an unauthorised Bollywood biographer". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Usman, Yasser (29 August 2016). Rekha: The Untold Story. New Delhi, India: Juggernaut Books. ISBN 978-81-93284-18-6.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Malik, Eekta (10 August 2018). "'I am so tired of goody-goody hagiographies'". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Usman, Yasser (2021). "More About Yasser". YasserUsman.com. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Star News launches 'Benaqab'". Indian Television. 23 September 2006. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  7. ^ Usman, Yasser (5 December 2014). "Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar Kindle Edition". Amazon. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ^ Lokapally, Vijay (12 December 2014). "A star only too human". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  9. ^ Kotnala, Stutee (11 September 2016). "'Rekha was glamorous, wild she wanted marriage'". The Asian Age. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  10. ^ Tuteja, Joginder (20 September 2016). "Book Review: Yasser Usman's Rekha – The Untold Story". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  11. ^ Majumdar, Anushree (9 September 2016). "I wanted to make the reader think differently about Rekha, says Yasser Usman on his latest book". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  12. ^ Sharma, Sanjukta (24 March 2018). "Do we need to retell the Bollywood bad boy story?". Mint. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  13. ^ Das, Aprita (19 December 2018). "Top 7 Books On Cinema In 2018". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  14. ^ Chhibber, Mini Anthikad (27 March 2021). "'Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story' review: Black, white and shades of grey". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""