Bloomsbury India is set to publish Dining with Stars, a remarkable collection of Anupama Chopra’s most memorable interviews, including contributions from her colleague Sneha Menon Desai, on 16th December 2025.

In an era dominated by polished celebrity personas, Anupama Chopra transforms the interview into a candid archive of India’s cinematic culture. Long before pan-India films became a phenomenon uniting screens while streaming platforms fragmented audiences, Chopra’s Film Companion sat front row, week after week, capturing the unseen layers of India’s film world.

Dining with Stars brings together some of her most exceptional conversations with India’s biggest superstars. Readers will find Sushant Singh Rajput reflecting on authenticity as a defense mechanism, Ranveer Singh navigating his chaos and hardened heart, Deepika Padukone meticulously colour-coding her scripts, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali channeling his demons onto the soundstage. These interviews reveal the vulnerability behind the glamour, offering an unfiltered glimpse into the lives of the country’s most celebrated artists.

The book is a journey through the minds and hearts of India’s finest performers at pivotal moments in their careers, exploring the cost of fame, the alchemy of stardom, and the resilience required to survive in the constant glare of the spotlight.

Chirag Thakkar, publisher at Bloomsbury India, said, “Anupama Chopra has chronicled Indian cinema and popular culture for decades. Through her work, she unveils our favourite stars beyond the façade, offering a rare, intimate perspective on their journeys.”

Reflecting on the book, Anupama Chopra said, “Film Companion was a piece of my heart—a space brimming with passion and energy for movie lovers. Dining with Stars captures some of our best conversations from that decade, and I hope readers enjoy revisiting these candid moments as much as we did creating them.”

About the Author:
Anupama Chopra is an acclaimed author, journalist, and film critic, and serves as the Director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is the founder and editor of Film Companion and has authored several landmark books on Indian cinema, including Sholay: The Making of a Classic (2000), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (BFI Film Classics, 2002), King of Bollywood (2007), In Conversation with the Stars (2019), and The Front Row: Conversations on Cinema (2015). She has been a film critic for NDTV, India Today, and The Hindustan Times.