MUMBAI: When a veteran of the media and entertainment industry announces that he is releasing the definitive book on the history of the business, almost everyone is sure to attend. At least his peers. Amit Khanna – the former founder of Plus Channel and chairperson of Reliance Entertainment – launched his book Words Sounds Images – A history of media and entertainment in India – over the weekend in Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios. Published by Harpers Collins, it is all of 855 pages long, making for a heavy tome.

And the heavweights of India’s business made it a point to attend. Javed Akhtar, Ronnie Screwvala, Mahesh Bhatt, Kabir Bedi,  Karan Johar, Mukesh Bhatt, Kiran Shantaram, Dheeraj Kumar, Sudhir Pandey, Kunal Dasgupta, Pradeep Guha, Boney Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Avtar Gill, Bijon Dasgupta, Bharat Kapadia, Manmohan Shetty, Ila Arun, Kumar Taurani,  Neeraj Roy, Krishan Chopra, Sidesh Inamdar, Ameen Sayani, Ficci’s Leena Jasnani, among many others.

During a panel discussion on stage, hosted by Karan Johar, Ronnie, Mahesh, Javed, and Sudhir reminisced about their relationship with Khanna over the past decades. All of them eulogised and praised his pioneering initiatves, and the fact that he was most suited to write the book and that he had predicted how the world has evolved a decade or so ago.

Words Sounds Images – costing all of Rs 1,499 -  covers entertainment from the times of the Indus Valley Civilisation to modern India.  It is a good reference book for students, educationists of the media and the entertainment business or even industry professionals wanted to refresh their minds about tentpole moments of its history. Of course these moments have been curated by Khanna himself.

What’s interesting about the book is the emphasis it has paid on regional television and cinema. There’s detailing, which further enhances its reference-ability. We at indiantelevision.com give it a thumbs up!