Ambani split paved way for book 'Ambani & Sons'
An Excerpt Taken from Economic Times.
Hamish McDonald looks mildly surprised to be sitting in Mumbai talking about his new book, Ambani &Sons, which has just been published and released in India.
“I did wonder if I would be met at the airport by lawyers,” he muses. That was more or less the fate of the book’s predecessor, The Polyester Prince, Mr McDonald’s unauthorised biography of Dhirubhai Ambani, which was famously blocked from release in India and for years was only available in surreptitiously circulated photocopies, and then more recently in pirated editions sold at traffic lights.
However, the new book, which takes forward the story of Ambani family and talks about the feud between the two Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil as also their recent truce, has managed to get published in India.
Perhaps in the end of the one mystery regarding Mr McDonald’s first book on Dhirubhai is why he tried so hard to stop it. As Mr McDonald recalls from his one interview with him, he was often happy to confirm many of the stories about him — for example, the very early one about how he made money in Aden when he realised that the value of the silver in the coins there was worth more than their face value, so he could make a small margin by collecting and melting them down.
But Dhirubhai is dead and the sons are not speaking either and while Mr McDonald probably regrets that as a journalist, it’s doubtful he feels the loss as much. For now he’s just happy that they haven’t stopped the launch of Ambani & Sons. “I never made any money from all those pirated copies, so this time I hope I will,” he laughs.
Dhirubhai & thereafter
An Excerpt Taken from Deccan Chronicle
The expectations from Ambani & Sons — given the subject matter and the author’s own original effort — are high. The Polyester Prince, those who did manage to lay their hands on it will agree, is still a gripping read. (The book had a limited release in India.)
Ambani & Sons can be neatly divided into two parts: Dhirubhai’s time and thereafter. The first part may not be very familiar to many Indian readers though it was earlier published in The Polyester Prince. Ambani & Sons’ second part, which begins after Dhirubhai’s death, deals with the conflict between Mukesh and Anil Ambani, how they eventually came to part ways and the story after.
The second story, of the conflict between the two Ambani siblings, is familiar even to a casual observer in India as it took place recently, in the age of satellite television, and was extensively covered by the media.
But this part of Ambani & Sons, which deals with the squabbling sons, disappoints. It suffers from the sequel’s curse of being compared to the original.
In summary, read the book for an uncensored version of the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, one of the more remarkable characters of modern India.