A wry memoir of Gemini Studios in Madras (1940s-50s) — its make-up department's vat of pancake greasepaint, the office boy's unfulfilled ambitions, the legal adviser whose ill-considered remark ended an actress's career, and the bewildering visit of Stephen Spender, the English poet. Asokamitran captures the cultural confusion of post-Independence Indian cinema with affectionate humour.