Alfred Hitchcock (left) on the set, a scene from ‘Psycho’ Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most popular filmmakers of all time and has been analyzed and written about in hundreds of books around the world. 2024 would have been his 125th birth anniversary and 2025 would have marked 100 years of his directorial debut The Pleasure GardenCinema lovers and cinema students have another reason to celebrate with the launch of a new book Master of Suspense: Hitchcock, In Telugu. Featuring over 60 essays, master of suspense Explores the cinema of Hitchcock by revisiting each of his films through the eyes of 45 Telugu filmmakers, 10 journalists and seven writers. Compiled and edited by journalist and author Pulgam Chinnarayan, the anthology is a collaborative project with senior civil servant Ravi Padi.
how it started
book cover | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
On a visit to Telugu director Vamsi’s home in 2018, Pulagam was mesmerized by the walls decorated with Hitchcock film posters and quotes, such as “To make a great film, you need three things; Script, script, script.” While discussions with Vamsi on various aspects of cinema remained with him, the idea of a book on Hitchcock took shape in 2022 when he used the pandemic time to read voraciously and watch the films of producer/director Vithalacharya (he The book has also been released) book Jai Vitthalacharya in 2023) and Alfred Hitchcock. He recalls, “I wondered whether social interactions affected by the pandemic would lead to a world where only Hitchcock-like films would be made, in one place and with smaller budgets.”
This idea eventually led him to launch a book presenting different filmmakers’ perspectives on Hitchcock. “I didn’t want to write it just from my perspective; The idea is to celebrate Hitchcock films and explore multiple perspectives.
Pulgam Chinnarayan and Ravi Padi. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While the essays on Hitchcock’s nine silent films are written by senior film writer ML Narasimham, directors like Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, Vamsi, Puri Jagannath, Harish Shankar and Indraganti Mohankrishna devote a chapter each to explore the various nuances of Hitchcock’s craft. Contributed to, focusing on one film. One time. The book also features special articles by comedian Gundu Sudarshan Rao, documentary filmmaker and professor Indraganti Kiranmayi, writers Gopi Mohan, Satyananda and Dasharatha, critic VAK Ranga Rao and producer MS Raju. The background stories of senior civil servant Ravi Padi provide interesting anecdotes and tidbits.
Priced at ₹650, the 528-page book took two years to complete and was launched in December 2024 to coincide with the recently concluded Hyderabad Book Fair. The book will be displayed at the 35th Vijayawada Book Festival at the Government Polytechnic College from January 2-12. “We are happy with the overwhelming response as 500 copies of the first edition have been sold and the second edition is on the way,” says Pulagam, who has written 10 books so far.
With its comprehensive overview of Hitchcock’s films, Pulagam hopes the book will serve as a guide for cinema lovers and budding filmmakers.
Master of Suspense: Hitchcock is available for sale online.
published – January 01, 2025 03:17 PM IST
