Strong words but Bollywood isn't exactly squirming. And, the reason, as De herself says: The filmi crowd occupy a ``different world, an unreal, bizarre one which defies categorization, common sense or logic.''

Yet, she devotes a major chunk of her latest book to the shenanigans of Bollywood which she observed and chronicled for the better part of her journalistic career: from the megastars of the '70s, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna, to the '90s bratpack, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.

So how do those at the receiving end of De's diatribereact?

Says Jackie Shroff, whose minimalist '80s attire -- short shorts and little else -- left the entire Stardust embarrassed: ``But I often dressed like that in those days. As far as her observations on the industry are concerned, maybe what she's saying is true of some people -- but there are uncouth and ill-mannered people all over the place.''

Shroff gets away rather lightly in the book. De reserves harsher judgment for the likes of Sanjeev Kumar whom she accuses of lecherous behaviour. And Shatrughan Sinha who barged into the Stardust

office one day.

And gave De another chance for some trenchant observation: ``Shatrughan Sinha, with his broad Bihari accent and crude manner, could do very little to salvage his image once he'd crossed the threshold (of the office) and slapped his pack of imported cigarettes on my table... It was his lack of exposure, the absence of sophistication and the mistaken belief that this sort of posturing was making us all go weak in the knees... (Now) Ifeel he hasn't moved too far from the loudmouth he was... Success (limited as it was) shot to his head, making it balloon to five times its original size.''

While Sinha himself was unavailable for comment, Stardust proprietor Nari Hira who witnessed the incident chuckles: ``Every word Shobha says is true. I know because I was there while it was happening. The man is exactly like that.''

But De's harshest words are reserved for the then Phenomenon. ``When the innaugural issue of Stardust

hit the stands in October 1971... with a headline that asked, `Is Rajesh Khanna secretly married?'. The unflattering cover shot showed up every pimple, boil and whitehead on Mr Khanna's face in close-up. The Stardust story was given to Nari Hira by Anju Mahendroo's mother, and concerned Rajesh Khanna, her daughter's boyfriend for seven years. Known as he (Khanna) was for his childish tantrums, petulance and conceit, nobody wanted to mess with the man...''

Years later, Rajesh Khanna is more mellow.Though he says he hasn't read the book, he's keen to give his reaction. But when it comes to the crunch, he backtracks. Repeatedly.

Of the current breed of actors, it's difficult to say who evokes stronger responses from De. She describes her eventful meeting with Govinda, praises him to the skies, tears into Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan.

At an annual felicitation event, post-Dilwale Dulhaniya...: ``Kajol arrived fashionably late... She flounced on stage, occupied her chair and proceeded to make faces, stick out her tongue and wave to acquaintances in the audience even as the keynote address was on. Half an hour later, Shah Rukh Khan strolled in puffing on a cigarette, which he stubbed out on the carpet... before stepping on to the dais... Their acceptance `speeches' didn't get beyond immature inanities... At the dinner that followed, I met Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol and was once again astonished by their overly casual behaviour.''

But the most obviously uncomplementary statements are reserved for thenewcomers. ``Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai... the manner in which (they) responded to their spectacular success was what separated the really royal one (Aishwarya) from the pretender...''

``Increasingly these days, star brats seem to be crawling out of the woodwork like so many busy ants, scurrying from studio to studio on the strength of their surnames and little more... Take Twinkle. Blessed with neither her mother's unusual looks nor her father's romanticism, the poor girl goes from disco to disco asking indifferent teenagers, `But... but... don't you know who I am? I'm Twinkle Khanna.''

Finally, it is director Mahesh Bhatt who puts De's comments into perspective, ``If the industry evokes this response from her, she is justified in stating it. Though my opinion is totally different from hers. You cannot draw a line or slot a group of people and pigeon-hole them as `film people'. I've seen many giants in this industry, people who are real gems. But she is replaying a part of what she has seen and isright in doing so.''