This book about the acclaimed Bengali film director Mrinal Sen was written by his son Kunal Sen.
I suspect the audience for this book has a love for or a knowledge of Mrinal Sen's work. I, on the other hand, am primarily an "internet friend" of the author (although I have had the pleasure of meeting him in real life a number of occasions). I have seen two of of the elder Mr. Sen's films, Bhuvan Shome and Ek Din Pratidin, and read his book My Chaplin. This is to say that I came to this book through the author, with very little context about the subject beyond the fact that he was a pioneer in an underground cinema movement in India and is very beloved.
Technically, I thought the book was very well written—conversational, not excessively 'artsy', but still containing a level of art and introspection rare for an author's first work. I read it in the course of a couple days, and was reluctant to put it down. I was sorry to see a few minor proofreading errors—in this era of self-published books, one of the advantages of having an actual professional publisher is that the book should be immaculate in that regard.
When I read a book whose author I am personally acquainted with, I do so with some sense of dread. I worry that it won't be a "real" book, or that I won't like it. Normally, I read such books in secret, only mentioning it later if my misgivings turn out to be unfounded. In the case of this book, I took no such precaution, as I have a great respect for the author's intellectual prowess and for his skill as a visual artist. I am happy to report that the gamble paid off. I highly recommend this book.
To me, the book read like a story of the author's life, with anecdotes of his father's life and personality illustrating his growth. I loved learning about the author's father, mother, and cast of rotating associates, but I felt like I was learning more about Kunal Sen than Mrinal Sen. To be clear, I mean that as a good thing. However, I assume the more typical reader would not share this view, as they would already be invested in the Father's story. I wonder what the reaction would be from a reader who acquainted with neither gentleman. I suspect regardless they would enjoy this work.
Towards the end of book, the author sums up the elder Mr. Sen's body of work, emphasizing that with each breakthrough in form and structure, he became motivated to reinvent the language of Indian cinema again, rather than resting on his laurels. I was reminded of Jeff Beck, who did one record perfecting the use of a "talk-box" effect, only to never use the method again, at other times exploring jazz fusion, psychedelic blues rock, and other innovations in guitar playing, only to leave each behind to look for a new language with which to connect to his audience.
Beyond any theme or message here (for me there was, but I'll leave that to you to decide when you read it) there's a lot of very real stories, well-told here. And I guess one could sum up the life and films of Mrinal Sen the same way.