Ajit Jain, a seventeen-year-old Indian American aspiring documentary filmmaker from Queens, dreams of creating meaningful art that will get him into film school. But his carefully laid plans take an unexpected turn at a wedding in India when he clashes with Bollywood nepo baby and notorious teen bad boy Zain Mansoor.
When Ajit is unexpectedly offered the chance to direct a behind-the-scenes documentary about Zain’s debut film, he jumps at the opportunity—not to create a puff piece, but to film an exposé that will take down the privileged actor and secure his spot at film school.
But forced proximity on a Bollywood set changes everything. As Ajit’s camera captures Zain at work, he discovers a vulnerable young man struggling beneath the weight of his father’s legacy and the persona he’s been forced to perform. The real Zain is thoughtful, driven, and nothing like the tabloid bad boy the world sees. A stolen kiss during a late-night motorcycle ride through Mumbai shatters Ajit’s objectivity completely.
Now torn between his documentary ambitions and his growing feelings, Ajit faces an impossible choice. Should he expose Zain’s truth to the world and launch his career, or protect the boy he’s falling for and tell a different kind of love story—one that might cost him everything he’s worked for?
Author
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy received a Stonewall Honor for his debut middle grade novel, The Best at It (Balzer + Bray, 2019), alongside several other accolades. His sophomore novel, Nikhil Out Loud (Balzer + Bray, 2022), won the Lambda Literary Award for middle grade literature and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2022.He is also an award-winning actor whose career has spanned hit television shows (30 Rock, Weeds, Only Murders in the Building), animated favorites (Phineas and Ferb, Sanjay and Craig), the Broadway stage, and many films.He served on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and he is the cofounder of the anti-bullying campaign Act To Change. Maulik lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his husband, Ryan, and their dog, Arlo.
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