Dehradun Author L. Aruna Dhir’s Hotel Adventures with the Stars picked up by The Story Ink for a possible Screen Adaptation!

New Delhi, September 2023 – Hotel Adventures with the Stars, the one-of-its-kind, bestselling Memoir by Dehradun-origin Author L. Aruna Dhir has been signed up for Screen Rights Representation by The Story Ink, India’s No. 1 Book to Screen Company.

The exciting news comes on the Bookversary of this delightful hotels & celebrities-based Book, as it completes one year of publication.

“Our team has reviewed the material of your enthralling Book. We are interested to exclusively rep your story ‘Hotel Adventures with the Stars!,” says Sidharth Jain, the dynamic Founder of The Story Ink, whose love for Indian cinema pulled him back to Mumbai after fruitful stints in New York and the Silicon Valley.

Hotel Adventures with the Stars is a Collector’s Edition Book by the International Hospitality Writer and PR Doyen, L. Aruna Dhir. In this delightful Book, Dhir chronicles her fascinating true accounts based on her interactions and friendships with famous personalities when she worked in some of the finest hotels the world has known.

The Book that is sui generis, and a prototype for future works, has been heralded by Superstars and personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Kiran Bedi, Kapil Dev, Maneka Gandhi, Ruskin Bond, and several more.

“Your encounters with celebrities of all levels add to the intrigue of your book.”

– Amitabh Bachchan

“Lucid, Witty & Engrossing…Aruna’s sharp writing makes this book a captivating read!”

– Jackie Shroff

Ruskin Bond, India’s most loved Storyteller, who calls the Book “Immensely readable” and has penned the Foreword for it, features in one of the extremely endearing chapters in the Memoir.

The Book has been agented by Suhail Mathur of The Book Bakers, one of the most enterprising Literary Agents in the Sub-Continent and is published by Vishwakarma Publications, regarded as one of the most respected publishers in India.

What clearly stands out for the Book, besides its engaging writing style and witty, wonderful storytelling, is its great cinematic appeal.

Laurent Goldstein, the well-known French photographer, art director, filmmaker and designer, who has been a prominent name in art and fashion in Paris, London, Milan and India, has this to say, “Hotel Adventures with the Stars is pure entertainment with a cinematographic flair.

L Aruna Dhir is a true Storyteller; her book is very filmic and has a great rhythm. This fun, action-packed thrill ride with many characters will keep you completely intrigued from the first to very last page.”

Shirish Thorat, the bestselling author whose 2018 Book, ‘A Ticket to Syria’ has been adapted by ace director Neeraj Pandey into the successful web series ‘The Freelancer’ for Disney Hotstar has this advice for Dhir, “Your Book is ideal to pitch for a satirical comedy or a plain P.G. Wodehouse type Show. Why not evolve it?”

Tushar Shukla, a full-time Cloud Strategy Consultant and a hobby Actor cum Writer, echoes the views held by scores of readers when he states, “All of us who have lived through a certain period in India adulating, following, worshipping the myriad stars from the silver screen and popular media will truly get all the nuances of this finely written memoir. I especially loved the chapters on Ruskin Bond, Bollywood villains having a heart in real life (surprise!), Jackie Shroff, Khushwant Singh, Mira Nair and a few others. The writing makes these encounters from the writer’s past come alive like you are watching a Docu-drama on Netflix and makes you privy to some rare conversations. This book is a delightful and entertaining testament of India through eyes of the rich and famous while also underscoring how media and its consumption have changed through the decades.”

The Series on Hotel Adventures with the Stars, when developed, would be the first of its kind, with no precedent globally. While the two British Television Series, ‘Hotel’ and ‘The Hotel’ come closest in comparison, the former has been a fly-on-the-wall production showing day to day running of a Hotel and behind the scenes glimpses, while the latter is a documentary series.

Hotel Adventures with the Stars would be the only one portraying the real-life stories of a seasoned Hotelier depicting her associations with famous folk from the world of Cinema, Sports, Literature, Politics, Arts and Music. The enchanting encounters that took place in iconic hotels are set in the period that takes one to the halcyon days of nostalgia from the start of the millennium, going back down to the sepia-tinted 70s.

Many of the Stars that dot the galaxy of this Book have been active in the visual medium in the recent times through cameos and comebacks. Jackie Shroff played himself in the comic caper ‘Call me an Agent.’ Sharmila Tagore returned to the Silver Screen after a prolonged hiatus of 12 years with Gulmohar. Kapil Dev did a cameo in a women-centric Film. And Ruskin Bond made an episodic appearance in a Vishal Bhardwaj movie based on his Book.

“Along with the famous celebrities, the Hyatt, The Oberoi and The Imperial Hotels where the stories are set, are also important stars with their timeless aesthetics and resplendence. The giant mural cascading down like a waterfall at the Hyatt, the Tree of life and the marble Lotus Fountain in the heart of the Oberoi lobby, the Imperial’s 24 King Palms and the Turquoise pillars around which a lot of Indian history was played out are significant fixtures from our collective memory,” gushes Dhir.

And then the cities themselves – Dehradun and Delhi of yore that stand out with their distinct characteristics symbolizing the time chronicled in the Memoir. The Old cinema halls with their vintage buildings, the big Peepul Tree that stood as a custodian of time, the Amaltas-lined boulevards that turned a sunny yellow through the summer months or the lush, fragrant Bougainvillea creepers lining the periphery of a colonial Tennis Court, they all come out as characters in the Book.

During a good-natured banter, Mathur quizzed Dhir as to who she would like to see in the role of the protagonist. While Dhir’s response was Priyanka Chopra Jonas or Alia Bhatt, given their inherent exuberance and range of performances, a draw of lots threw up the name of Vidya Balan, easily one of the finest actresses in the Indian Film Industry today.

“Well, she is much closer to my body type, though a whole lot prettier and so much more talented,” shoots back Dhir in a light vein. “I would be privileged to see her play the main role.”

The Series that could be brought to life based on Hotel Adventures with the Stars would suitably fall in the genre of Memoir, Bollywood, Comedy, Female-led, Slice of Life with pronounced shades of travel and drama.

Notes –

The Story Ink is credited with the bringing out of ‘Trial by Fire,’ arguably one of the most successful web series to have come out on Netflix in 2023.

The 27 chapters in the book feature Ruskin Bond, Jackie Shroff, Dimple Kapadia, Sanjay Dutt, Gulshan Grover and Ranjeet, Madhuri Dixit, Hrithik Roshan, Kiran Bedi, Kapil Dev, Mira Nair, Sharmila Tagore, Shashi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Poonam Dhillon, Neha Dhupia, Tina Ambani, Vijay Amritraj, Bobby Cash, Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Khushwant Singh, Ismail Merchant, Maneka Gandhi, Shabana Azmi, Shubha Mudgal, Sonal Mansingh, and Zohra Sehgal respectively.

Hotel Adventures with the Stars, the archetypal Memoir by L. Aruna Dhir, the quintessential hotelier and PR Virtuoso, has had a great run and is already into its second Reprint with its First Edition officially sold out!