Ram Kamal Mukherjee (born 1977) is an Indian journalist, film critic and historian, and author. He is best known for his coffee-table book on actress Hema Malini, Diva Unveiled-Hema Malini (2005), the first biographical work about her. He has been a journalist for Screen Film Weekly, The Asian Age, Stardust and the Mumbai Mirror, and is the current Vice President of Pritish Nandy Communications.
Mukherjee was born into a conservative family in northern Kolkata (Calcutta).[1] A self-described mediocre student, he had ambitions to become a stage artist and classical dancer.[1] He developed an interest in actress Hema Malini after watching her films and says, "soon, that liking grew into a sort of obsession and I became a self proclaimed fan of Hema Malini."[1] When his father Jaydeb realized that he had an interest in writing, he encouraged Ram to write a ‘letter to the editor’ on his favorite topic (Hema Malini) to Screen Film Weekly. Poorly written, his father scrapped it and showed him how to write. [1] The letter, and a subsequent one, was published in the newspaper and led to the start of a career as a freelance journalist with them in 1995. Mukherjee graduated in Media and Film Studies at the University of Kolkata. After the period working for Screen Film Weekly, he was hired as a sub editor for The Asian Age in Kolkata in 2001.[2] He was appointed as the official journalist for Kolkata Film Festival. In 2003, he moved to Mumbai, where he became a Senior Correspondent at Stardust magazine.[2]
Mukherjee is best known for his coffee-table book on actress Hema Malini, Diva Unveiled-Hema Malini (2005), becoming the youngest Bollywood biographer in India at the age of 27.[3][2]The book, the first biographical insight into the life of Malini, is a collector's edition and includes posters of Malini's films since 1970 and more than 500 rare photographs, including unpublished photographs of Hema's childhood, and a letter written by Hema Malini to her daughter Esha in 1983.[4][5]Mukherjee spent a great deal of time researching the book, interviewing almost 30 important people involved in Malini’s life. [1] The forward to the book is written by Amitabh Bachchan, her co-star in Baghbaan. Mukherjee had met and interviewed Malini previously as reporter for Stardust and was asked by Nari Hira to write a book about her. Malini approved of the book, saying, "As an actress I have received lots of awards and recognition throughout my acting career. But what makes this moment significant is the fact that Mr. Mukherjee has attempted to recreate me through this book and has given a new meaning to my life and my career. He has made considerable effort in writing this beautiful coffee table book. However, there is more to me. My political career has just begun and I may some day write an autobiography."[6] Although the book garnered Mukherjee the Best Author Award and the Best Journalist Award in Kolkata,[2] the book divided opinion. Whilst Suresh Kohli of The Hindu noted that the book was "comprehensive", he described it as "almost an insult to the most enduring diva of the Hindi screen."[7] He said "But it is such books that result in killing a concept. And, unfortunately, behind all such endeavours are some of the most seasoned signatures in mainstream film journalism of the pedestrian kind, a tribe whose total claim to posterity is sustained mediocrity. It is a treasury of contradictions - full of grammatical, factual, printing errors and a lot of repetition. There are duplicate references even in the filmography, and the second entry invariably bears a different release date, apart from a different cast."[7]
Mukherjee later joined the tabloid Mumbai Mirror as an Assistant Editor in Mumbai Mirror and in his column "Ram Katha" he has developed as a film journalist and critic.[2] He has also contributed as a columnist to Mid-Day and several other publications. He is the current Vice President of Pritish Nandy Communications, an entertainment, news and media content corporation, and a maker of Indian movies, based in Mumbai.
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