Writing her ticket to tinseltown

Aradhika Sharma

Malini agarwal is the creator of the popular Bollywood site, Miss Malini.com, which will invariably come up in searches when you’re looking for Bollywood-related news or gossip. Apart from that, the website is a good resource to know about the fashion trends and beauty tips. MissMaliniEntertainment is a recognised entertainment brand and its CEO, Malini Agarwal, is the head of a huge digital enterprise, reaching millions worldwide.

However, a famous blogger does not a great author make! #To the Moon ... is meant to be a self-help book. However, it cannot escape a certain tone of smugness that pervades throughout the book. Paeans in the form of endorsements and letters full of compliments for the author by celebrities — all unanimously praising Miss Malini — can get a little tiring for the reader.

True to form, the book is written in the form of blog posts with plenty of hashtags dotting the pages. It is an interesting format for a book that delves into the realm of a successful blog. At the end of every chapter — or section — there are the life’s lessons that Miss Malini has learnt and would like to share with the readers. While not quite in the class of universal truths, still, there is something in her pop philosophy that would please readers looking for easy pop philosophical messages.

Divided into four sections, Agarwal describes her journey to Mumbai (with Rs 40,000 in her account), her sortie into the world of radio jockeying, the course of her career, and finally, how to build a brand, which is probably the best part of the narrative. It is in this section that she discusses some effective management mantras. The section titled, The A-Z of Digital Entrepreneurship, where she covers small sections like ‘A is for Apple; B is for Blogging; C is for Competition’, E is for Emoji, F is for Facebook and so on, is likely to amuse and interest young geeky readers.

The tone of the book is chirpy and positive, quite like the content of her blog. She questions the predisposition of the media to write only negative stories about celebrities and claims that she will not write anything that she cannot say to her subject’s face. All through the book, she firmly sticks to one adage: “Passion for what you do is utmost. Money, fame and success will follow if you are passionate enough to follow your dream.” And sure enough she has managed to make her dream come true.